PRO LYRIC WRITING: A no nonsense guide to songwriting success! (Full Course)

1. Introduction and Teaser Video!: Hi, My name's Mike. Welcome to pro lyric writing on No nonsense Guide to songwriting success. So why should you listen to me? I hear you ask. I've performed my own music globally to thousands of people, both festivals and some of the U. K's greatest music venues, as well as having quiets that paid me from all over the world to write songs for them. What makes this course different is that I am an actual performer myself. There are lots of really great songwriting lyric writing courses on this website, but they're regularly from academic songwriters or people sitting behind the scenes in the songwriting process. I've been on the front line of performance and so writing my own songs for the last 15 years on due to this, I really know what makes a lyric work with a live audience. My course is no nonsense. USP is that it's tailored towards people who want really tangible lessons on how to benefit their lyric writing and ultimately there. So, writing this isn't, of course, full off believing yourself on. If you think you could make it, you can make it, which I see elsewhere. My course is specifically structured to target various elements of lyric writing on use real examples where we can. So what will we learn? The course is structured to go from the basic fundamentals of writing to more specific discussions of rhyme schemes that you can use, as well as a song surgery, whereby we talk about what makes a lyric better than another. There's also extra sections where we talk about things like what to do when you got writer's block because we all get it. Ultimately, the course culminates in a live video where I sit at that table behind me and go from having absolutely nothing so a fully fledged lyric and soul at the end. I talk about the whole process throughout, and it's a really useful exercise in learning how to write lyrics. The type of student that this cause will help is a beginner or intermediate lyric writer who's really hoping to improve their craft with real life examples that could demonstrate how they can move forward. If this sounds like something that you'd like to try in role now, we can take the first step on our loot writing journey 2. The Course Framework: the course is formatted to deal one at a time with small elements of the lyric writing process. We then use these lessons to build on each other to fit into a wider trajectory of you. Improving as a lyric writer throughout this wider trajectory will fit into a three act process. First of all, we'll deal with the basics, will discuss my definitions off hook, writing truth writing on the magical Third Way, as well as things like what connects with an audience and more. Once we've established these foundations, we move out of our first act of our wider trajectory on into the second act, when we get more specific on technical talking about rhyme schemes on real life examples of what makes a good lyric what's not such a good lyric? Finally, I show how you can take what we've learned in acts one and two and apply it to writing a lyric from absolutely nothing. I sit at that table there, and I go from having no cords on, no melody and no lyric, so having a fully fledged on at the end because you've been with me all the way on Act One and two you're now understand the processes that I'm discussing, as I write it and you'll be able to do it at home yourself. Therefore, by the end of the course, we have taken you through the basics into the more technical elements on what you should write and how you should write it to, then actually getting some words on the page and showing how a real song can be written. 3. Act 1 - The Three Types of Lyric Writing: throughout this course, you'll hear me make reference to three types of lyric writing. Now these are things that I have to find myself on, the first of which is truth writing. Now. Truth is emotion. Emotion is storytelling on a great storytelling is great lyric writing. So what is truth writing? Well, writing truth writing lyrics is basically where the artist speaks from the heart and really tells a story off their truth or something rial that they have heard on the street or that they've heard someone that they know is going through. We'll discuss later how emotion is the ultimate way to connect with an audience. So therefore, all you need is to be truthful in a song to write great lyric, right? Specifically, If it's for pop, well, that's not quite the case. That's when you need the second type of lyric writing. This is what I call hook writing now hook writing, lyrics arm or likely the thing that you're here in the charts regularly, it's often called bubble gum pop at its most hookey on just generate pop, a SSM, or general basis. The subjects that they're discussing on the stories they're telling, don't necessarily cut you deep when you listen to them as an audience member. Often they're Mawr Club, Dancy based or just a bit of fun, and that's absolutely fine. That's what they're aiming for. But what their benefit is is the way the lyrics of written on the choice off rhymes and the choice of syllables and the amount of words in a line. It allows audiences to sing along and therefore create songs that people can get on board with and ultimately become very popular. In the introduction I mentioned, there was 1/3 type of loot writing that will be mentioning, and that is the magical Third Way, which is a conflation of both hook writing. Andi Truth writing. This is the type of lyric writing that you should be any for in your songs. It's a great way to connect with an audience through the truth and emotion of the pace. But then you also write the lyrics and hopefully the melody as well in a hookey style that the public can get on board with on Enjoy your song. A good example of someone who creates amazing Third Way typewriting is Adele. If you listen to most of her songs, something like Rolling in the Deep is a great example. Hello. She's stereotype for having a riel emotional core and teary breakup songs that people cry around the world to, or beautiful love songs that people proposed to. But they're also huge international hits on Why is That is because there's 1/3 way. No, only are they dripped from Tears of Adele, the lyrics that she comes out with Andi, maybe one co writer. Unlike a lot of hook writing, which is lots of people writing together Adele songs combined both on. Therefore they've got the Great Be. They've also got the easy to sing courses, and that creates a song that people remember around the globe, both for its truth and it's hook. That's what you should be aiming for. 4. Act 1 - What Connects With An Audience: what connects with an audience. There's no point based around the bush. It's emotion. That is the answer, really. I will talk about something else in a minute, but primarily it's emotion. Songs are very human experience. Andi is the emotion behind them, which is what connects with an audience, particularly if it's a human thing that everybody experiences over their life. For example, you writing a gorgeous lyric about the fact your pet lizard has died is probably not gonna break hearts all over the world. Change it to your dog, dying on Yes. Suddenly more people will understand it. But then, if it's about your mother dying, then suddenly you've got a story that people couldn't connect to across the world. They might think that is their grandmother, their own mother. The passage of time Everyone can connect to that. The song subjects affect people most on the emotions. Behind them are the things that affect them every day. Andi, love and relationships is obviously the most famous. One doesn't have to be a really sad one. It could be a happy song. For example, the Beatles she loves you is really happy. Tune on the lyric is uplifting, but people can relate to it. And that's why it was such a big hit. Obviously, with the Beatles songs, the melody plays a hell of a lot, but we're talking about lyrics here. Likewise, Junaid O'Connor's song Nothing Compares two U, which Waas a cover off an old Prince lyric, has an incredible emotional depth on. Obviously you had a famous video and various other things around it. But ultimately, the reason people love that song and I really love that song is that it's so emotionally powerful in the everyone can recognize the feelings that she's going through in that on that connects with an audience second point. It's the importance of storytelling now. Ultimately, it's all about emotion. But storytelling can be a great way to tap into that emotion that you're dealing with when writing the lyric. The reason that storytelling is important is that, like with most forms of art, the cinema is a really good example of that. When people experience it, they want to be transported away from their everyday life. They want to feel something different. Andi connect with the artist in whatever form that may be, and in our example it's our songs and our lyrics that we are trying to transport this audience away from their everyday life. From ultimately as we've mentioned is emotion, which is the court of this. But the way you tell the story is important in helping transport these people to a new world in their head now it doesn't necessarily have to be Assad one. I know it's quite a classic for it to be. Oh, there haven't break up and they're listening to Bonnie. Very skinny love, Andi feeling all of that. But it could also be a happy thing. For example, if you listen to Lily Allens, el viene, it's just about London where I live, obviously, on going down the street and seeing different people. It's a happy little June, but the way that she describes the people she meets along the way. Andi, this off funny outlook she has in the world that she's experiencing is brilliant storytelling, and then you connect with song as a listener. How much the emotional depth the song matters in the lyric does depend on the genre, though, in my opinion, for example, in metal music they cover, let's say darker themes. Andi it's often a lot more cerebral. Andi. Quite intellectual. Often there's a science angle to a lot of metal and psychedelic music on its not necessarily all about how you love the girl next door, and you really want to marry her. It's often about space, Andi, all this kind of stuff. So different genres put different value on storytelling or emotion in separate ways. Likewise, in country they do value the every day on storytelling is the primary focus off any real country song they like in the stereotype, talking about having a beer with your mates on a Friday night. And it's all very believable, and country fans love that storytelling element to it in pop. Certainly in chart pop, you don't necessarily have to fit your lyrics into such a specific storytelling format. You can be a bit more hook writing style. Andi still get a lot of listeners 5. Act 1 - Who Are You Writing For: something to think about with you. Larry writing is, who are we writing for? For most of you taking this course, you're probably beginner or intermediate songwriters sitting at home writing your own personal projects on. Therefore you're writing. If yourself on, remember that when you're writing for some of you who are slightly more experienced, perhaps you are what we call in the industry. A hired gun. Hi Gun is someone like myself who regularly gets hired to write songs for other people. When you are a hired gun, it's important to remember that you're not only writing for yourself while you might imply personal stories in the lyrics that you're writing for the client. Ultimately there the producer of the song on You need to be aware that you're writing for them equally. If you're writing your own personal projects, you have more freedom in that regard. Andi, you're not limited by notes or the waste on one something to sound or lyrics. They want to hear a few examples that I have to deal with with songs that I write are whether people want them as, let's say, a pop song or a song for a library a library for anyone who doesn't know would be a collection of normally instrumentals but often songs as well that they use on adverts or backing tracks for videos on YouTube. And you can basically buy a subscription to it. Andi, you can use all the music on the platform like millions of socks. Now, for example, here if I'm writing a library music track, I know that they want it somewhat generic. They don't want a very, very specific artist's vision of it. They're hiring me to write a lyric that's going to be somewhat generic, that they can use again and again and again and again on different platforms. And that's the nature of it. So you need to keep in your head that you're writing for that specific goal. Likewise, if someone is particularly hiring me for a pop, right, I know two on the whole, keep it relatively simple. They wanted to be a pop tune. I need to think of the client while I'm writing on Keep It Pop. I'm not gonna write this long, grandiose lines off seven minutes of lyrics because it's just not what they want on this notion off knowing who you're writing for who you want to write for can be applied to very famous singers as well. For example, often it could be good to be very specific or very broad in your album, an example. Being Ed Sheeran's recent album, Multiply. He's acknowledged in interviews that he wrote it as a very broad spectrum of songs. And if you listen to it, you can hear that summer romantic love songs, some are garni in influenced African songs are the ones our club style hits when what he's done there is used his broad appeal to go super wide with who he's writing for on what ended up was an album that was very, very successful in multiple different communities around the world. That said, Often people criticize this style, saying that it's just too broad on its painting, a brush over everything when you should be much more specific. So bear that in mind as well 6. Act 1 -What To Write About: So what shall we write about? There are a 1,000,000 different things that people can write lyrics about, but they may come under a few different categories. Step one is obviously go personal. It's been done for hundreds of years and will continue to be to the end of human existence . But going to personal experiences is obviously the number. One way to come up with lyrics Andi find different experiences to talk about. Specifically, writing about love is obviously the most popular thing to do the world over. Andi, there's nothing wrong with that. Personally, I find definitely is easiest right about break ups, because in that moment you can really feel it. Even with happy songs, I find it's difficult sometimes to grab onto it the same way as you can with a rule. Sad moment in your life on Sometimes people often say, when you are in those situations to capitalize on it right as much as you can, because you can often have great work and great lyrics come out of it. Andi. It's a good time to write ironically, and to be fair, it can rid yourself of some of the pain about time. But I don't agree that you should just hurt yourself all the time emotionally to get good lyrics. There are obviously great happy songs out there in the same field. The Beatles. She loves you on songs of that nature, obviously amazing happy songs capitalizing on their personal experiences off love. Although that said, while many would say Don't hurt yourself loads to get great songs, it's always see what's out quite well for Adele. But the reason why her songs are so successful on people love them so much highly reviewed everything is that they have that emotional core to them. They are a human piece of our really someone like you. The performance that she did at the Brit Awards, which really skyrocketed, rocketed that song off into the charts is she's really crying in there on that connects with the audience Andi. It creates something like 21 1 of the highest selling albums of all time. So, yeah, if you're in a break up, you should definitely right about that. But when we're talking about going personals, well, it doesn't necessarily have to be the break up of your divorce that you write about. There can be beauty and great lyric writing in the smallest details of your life. For example, Taylor Swifts The Best Day is really just a song about hanging out with her family and having a nice time. And it's a lovely little song. No, it didn't top the charts. No, it's not the most emotionally expansive song lyric that's ever been written, but it's a nice little thing. It was on the album. It's successful, and it's got bands that really love it. The same goes for Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonight, one of my favorite songs. It's literally just about his girlfriend or probably wife. I'm not sure just getting ready for a night out. Andi. They had a nice time. That's it. It's a really simple lyric, but the truth shines through in the way that he was obviously looking at her in that moment as a fun fact. The lady that's actually written about was also with George Harrison, a different point in her life, and he wrote a song about her as well. So too incredible. Songs by two of the most fake result is of all time were written about this same lady. Now, if you don't have any personal experience that you currently feel like writing about in that moment, a second tip I would go for is observation. Now I live in a bustling city capital city with thousands of people everywhere. Andi, if you're standing on public transport or sitting on a bench in the park, you always have people walking past you talking about different things. Funny things, sad things, heartbreaking moments, people crying to each other, people celebrating the birth of a baby, anything. So if you just sit on a park bench and watch people around you, there's something great about observing people on, similar to the first point. It's still human. Emotion is what people are going through at that time, and that's great stuff to write about as a really great case study. George Ezra, who is an artist really famous here in the UK and now globally. I'm not sure about those in the U. S. And around the world if they know him as well. But certainly here in England he's one of the biggest stars right now, and his first album, called Wanted on Voyage, was written all about his trip around Europe when he was just traveling as a late teenager . He took a little notebook with him on, just wrote everything he saw everything he saw. So he talks about having these huge notebooks full of always writing that he was talking about on its converted into an amazing album. If you look it up each song on there, you can see how his observation led to these songs. Yes, some of them are personal but other ones. For example, there's a song on the album called Blind Man in Amsterdam is literally just him. Who's clearly bean watching this busker type man on the streets begging for coins on George's just written a nice little ditty about it, a nice lyric on its You can feel the observation in here on the truth of it as well. On that. No, with observation, I certainly believe that truth is stranger than fiction on Often you can hear stories or see things from observing the world around you that you wouldn't even be able to come up with in your head because it's so crazy what's happening or who's done that that person and it's all exciting on. It's good to get out in the world and see that stuff anyway. As an artist, 1/3 way that you can come up with things to write about is news media. We live in a world of the Internet, and you have all the information off the world at my fingertips the entire time. So get on Google. Get on, Ask Jeeves, aware people use other than Google. Andi, find out what's going on in the world. Is there a small story about a family? Had an incredible journey in Iceland. Is there Ah, heartbreaking war going on Somewhere in South America, there could be a very wealthy person who's lost all of their cash to tax forward. Everything online may not necessarily be the most truthful, but they're certainly a huge wealth off great stories that you can tap to write lyrics from . What's more, it's actually a bit of a cheap to write about these articles online because they give you a lot of this story. Writing lyrics Great lyrics is often about writing around in lyric that starts on finishes in a different place or in the same place, much like a novel or film at the cinema. On what articles on news stories online Give You is the basic structure of a story. If you go online and read about a soldier who lost his family but then saved them from the dictator in wherever that's your story right there. All you need to do is write great lyrics, which condense that story down into a few lines that can be put to music on people can enjoy. So really, it's quite a great way to come up with content for songs. 7. Quick Tip - The Power Of Specificity : Here's just a quick tip that you can use to tell better stories in your lyric writing. We've discussed what connects with an audience on what you're going to write about and how honesty can create great lyric writing. But use the power of specificity in your lyrics to get across what you're seeing to the listener. If you listen to artists like Bruce Springsteen, they use a specificity, really transports the listener to the world of the Bruce inhabits. For example, if you were discussing seeing somebody on the street say, I saw them on Main Street, 42nd Street, I saw them on holiday or drive. Whatever. You don't want to be too broad with your lyric. If you're very specific, it's much easier for the audience to understand the picture that you're painting in their head. If you're talking about a lady in a dress, talk about the specific hue of the car teal, Scarlett, whatever that whatever it may be, rather than eyesore in a green dress, you know, talking about the material the way it looks, the sheen of it that use off specific language really helps tell the story, and for listeners to understand what you're trying to get across to them, to throw some specific words into your own writing, to give them that extra when it comes to storytelling. 8. Act 1 - Writing Your Reality: so we've discussed writing for different audiences on knowing your audience. But this is just a little note on the importance off congruence AEA times on what's to be said for it, knowing your own style on capitalizing on it. Firstly, you should know who you are as an artist and as a lyric writer. If your strength lies in the my new shy of daily life, then you should play on that. You should write songs that incorporate that Andi building it. You can get in your funny side if you're a funny writer, or if you're really good at that heart thumping metaphor, you should certainly play to it. For example, for myself, I know that I'm better things like love songs on. That's why people, when they pay me to write songs, they often get me to write love songs rather than their hottest new e g M. Hit. And that's fine. That's what I'm like. It's who I am on. There is congruence seeing Andi that Congress see can often help to create a great lyric on hopefully a great song because you are the person who is that way. You've written the lyric in that way, and hopefully that shines through in the song. Secondly, what do you like to do as a person? If you like going out clubbing on living a hard core party life, then you might be great at writing club bangers on songs. They're gonna get people on the dance floor. If you like to sit in your room at home on Bond, listen to Neil Young or Rippey or whatever. Watch art documentaries. You might be a slightly more introverted person on your songs and your lyrics. Potentially, you can build on that. Everybody's different on. Everyone has different strengths. Therefore, the person who's at home listening to Neil Young might appreciate the intricacies of certain different types of lyrics on. They should focus on that with their own work. If you are the club political, then you'll know about that book writing. Andi be able to write songs that going to get people jumping around on. That's great, for example, for myself. I love John Mayer, Andi, Ed Sheeran, Onda, all of those kind of artists on as much of sometimes I wish I didn't always write songs in that kind of style. That's just who I am and the songs are right are better for it. If I was trying to write metal songs, I just don't think it would come across that well. It's also helpful to acknowledge your own reality. I am English. I live in England. Still, I've lived in different countries in the world, but I am an English guy. On With that comes certain cultural norms. The British are very polite. In many ways, lots of stereotypes are from true the world over in certain forms on No, I wouldn't write a wrapped site style song about all the money I've got on all of the things I have and shoving in people's faces in the same way that Drake would whatever. It's just not my reality on. It would be kind of ridiculous if I was writing about it for that every day. Songwriting that I imagine you're going to be doing at home that Congress see and knowing reality is important. There's no point in me writing these songs about being a billionaire when I am English guy living in London. It's just it's just not really Congress. But what if I am writing for somebody else and I do have to write that somebody is employed me to write a song about something I've never experienced. What do I do then? Well, you kind of going to be an actor. You've gotta put yourself in the role on as we discussed earlier. You've gotta know that audience potentially research that audience on the songs they listen to their might be phrases on slam that you would never have known, but if you look into it, you'll start to get it on. I imagine that as you build up over time, you'll get used to it. To be fair, to read, Shira and I mentioned earlier, is someone a little bit like me in the way we right or me like him more like. But you know, he's He's from Suffolk, which is a village in the countryside in England, and yet he's now writing songs with Benny Blanco on Storm Ze in a kind of clubby way about having certain things. So, using that example again there as I have mentioned it before, but you can change like that, but obviously this course is for mainly people writing for themselves on, I would warn off writing outside your reality because it might come across as slightly silly when you later come to perform that or somebody else performs it. If you're not seeing the lyric yourself on this same subject, just a little note. For those of you out there who are singers yourself will be performing your own lyrics that were writing. No, you're sound as well. You know, I've got quite a husky singer songwriter type rail amante, knee vocal. That is how my voice sounds. It's always sounded like that since my voice broke, I used to have a very high singing voice like Sarah McLachlan. I used to sing that sort of thing. My voice, then broke on bizarrely, is now very husky. I've never smoked in my life, but that's just how it is. Andi. When I write lyrics, I aim them towards my kind of sound. Andi. I wouldn't do it in a kind of really high falsetto in my head when I'm writing those lyrics because I can't reach it. I can do a little bit of that. I wish I could do more, but I can't reach that sound or I can't belt in the same way that BlueScope Audi in his recent songs really belts that vocal. For example, if you listen to his cover of Billy, I'll ish that he did, which is amazing. He properly belts his voice. I can't do that. So when you are a performer and you're writing lyrics yourself that you know you are going to sing again, be aware of what your own sound is. There's nothing wrong with specializing. While you could obviously change through a long career, certainly for the minute I would say Focus on what you really sound like. Andi. Build on that rather than trying to flip flop around into different genres as you start your writing derrick process. 9. Act 2 - Lyrics Or Music First? Part 1: So what came first, the chicken or the egg? And for us as songwriters, that question is certainly do we do the lyrics first or the music first? This particular segment is obviously going to be more relevant to those of you watching this who are musicians yourself. But certainly it will be helpful for the lyricists among you as well. So I'm just going to go through a couple of the advantages off each on. You can decide which one works better for you. The most popular version of some writing is certainly music first. But why is this? There's a few different reasons for why Music First is the most popular form of writing a song, the first of which is that the melody is already there for you. It's kind of easier in a way to write those lyrics. When you can hear the song going on in the background, you can hear the cords. The choice of the notes on that can affect your songwriting. It's easier to implants, arguably those lyrics that you're writing into an existing melody. Furthermore, the fact that the music is already there, it gives you almost an emotional road map for where your lives can go. If the musician, whether it's yourself or somebody else, has written a core progression in the minor chords, it's minor, minor, minor, sad, sad, sad. Then that is going to give you an emotional roadmap. For your lyric. Writing is very unlikely. You're going to write a really happy song about how much you love your wife to the sound of a D minor chord. Likewise, if it was a really happy sounding melody, then that gives you a road map to follow their as well, which could be great for getting you going on writing lyrics easily. Thirdly, I'd say that having the music first, it gives you an awareness of the structure off the song on. That could make it easier to write the lyrics as well. If you can already hear that there's an intro, then chorus, then verse or a verse pre chorus chorus, then that can impact the way you write the lyric. Andi. Most people find it easier to do it this way because it's kind of there for you. But while I say it's easier to have the music first and then do the lyrics after in my opinion, the popularised opinion easy doesn't necessarily mean better. I have written songs with the lyrics first on. They also have their own advantages. The benefits off lyrics first is that firstly, you have total freedom with the words you're writing. You're not beholden to any music that you can hear in your head, which is pushing you into a certain box, a pop sound, a rock sound, a happy sound. All you have is the blank page ahead of you on. You have to fill it with whatever lyrics come out of you, and that could be great. So, ironically, in the opposite way to what we just mentioned, we said one of the positives off writing lyrics after music is that the emotional roadmap is already there. Few on the other way round. It could be great to know have that music there because it gives you total freedom. Creativity on you're not pushed into any boxes with what you're thinking on the words you're writing. Finally on. Most importantly for me, I would say the greatest benefit off lyrics first is that you write more poetic, interesting lyrics from my experience when you don't have that pop melody that you've written in your head as I mentioned, your creativity is a lot more open to various words Andi phrases that you might not necessarily use. Now I'm going to show you an example of a song that I wrote a few years ago. I was sitting on a coach leaving a city, which I really wasn't a big fan off. It was very grey on. There was lots of concrete everywhere. It just it just wasn't my kind of place on. We left on On the way back. I was sitting on the coach with a pen and paper, and I wrote this song. It's called Monochrome City. I will put the lyrics up on the screen on Here we go. I'm gonna pull our performance for you now so you can hear it on the lyricist. They are quite complex on poetic about this city that I had left on black and white monochrome and yada yada. But I don't think I would have written this song if I have had this chord progression first . It just wasn't in my head when I was writing, so I wrote this, in my opinion, quite attractive lyric on. Then later I had to put music to it and it worked out really well on this is the song. 10. Act 2 - Lyrics Or music First? Part 2 - An Example : as I mentioned the last lesson. This is a song of mine where I wrote lyrics first before the music on. I think it comes out with more poetic lyrics. I'm gonna perform it for you now on. Let me know what you think. It's normally a little bit faster and a bit rocky are, but I'm going to perform it quite laid back so you can hear me say each lyric specifically violence guys run by side dark plumes of smoke on their runaway time. But soon it's God's too fleeting. Guys with those who look on staring at a trail clips into another world a rarity in this cold, dark place. The US with memories off the time That doesn't seem to see I'm talking about We're down in the monochrome city where streets are filled with Goes way down in the monochrome city seem like people that cast in stone. They've got no car, no off no 11 no individuality Way down to the monochrome. See, I really just wish I could leave EMC Rose Let it all around. Silence is the only remaining panorama Robin style dreams. I can't seem to figure Robbo what it all means to contribute to what's our buck? See the massive concrete that used to be Honora If I would miss my surroundings Now I understand why everybody seems about way down in the monochrome city where she saw filled with Goes way down in the monochrome city Seem like people are cast in stone They got no car No, no 11 No individuality So way down to the monochrome city I really just respectively black What's not Comes every poor black while it steals Ally No, I comtech more black Well, five battle fearful war back Why, no. I have no way down in the monocle on city streets Off goes way down in the monochrome cc before CASS installing No, no, baby 11 0 I see Way down to Montecor City dismisses, actually. So there you go. That is my song Monochrome City, which I wrote the lyrics first before the music. I don't think I would have written phrases like a panorama of washed out dreams and things like that when I was written the music first because I probably would have gone a bit more pop and it wouldn't have necessarily fitted, but I had to fit that lyric with the music because the lyrics existed and I didn't want to change. It s so I think that's quite a good song. Example I did performing quite slowly there. But that song has actually become one of the audience favorites. When I pay live, it's most people who are fans of my music is their number one favorite, Andi. The lyrics are not what one might cool hook writing style lyrics. They are quite complex. So therefore, I heard that provides a good example of how you can write more complex lyrics, for starters with a bit of a more poppy beat and still get a great pop song. But also, you can write lyrics first and still get a great song out of it. Obviously, the best example of this ever is Bernie Taupin on Elson job. I seen you know this already. I would hope you would know already, But if you don't Burning told, Pin is Elton John's writing partner. Elton John does not write all the songs himself. He writes the music. First of all, Bernie Taupin writes the poems, I guess the lyrics first, and then Elson, normally in about five minutes, puts it to music on. That's definitely the best partnership I've ever seen off that 11. Act 2 -To Rhyme Or Not Rhyme - Part 1: to rhyme or not rhyme. That is the question. Now beginners often get stuck with this dilemma. It's well held assumption that all songs need to rhyme all the way through to be successful . Luke. Writing on that simply isn't the case We used to listening to songs in the chart on hearing their rhyme schemes, etcetera on feeling that that is what song lyric writing is. But there isn't necessarily the case. Lyric writing, we must remember, is merely poetry. It just so happens that our poetry is put to music and rhythm in a different way. In this lesson, we're going to discuss the benefits on disadvantages of rhyming or not rhyming in your lyrics and use a few famous examples to discuss the differences off each. First of all, let's talk about the most famous example lyrics that rhyme now in this course, we've regularly discussed throughout that is predominantly about writing pop lyrics, and you can't deny that writing rhyme is an important facet to writing pop lyrics. It's a very key tenant off what we've called Hook writing. The most important reason why rhyme is a necessity in many songs for hook writing is that it creates a roadmap for where the audience think the song is going to go. It provides predictability on predictability is often a key part off writing Chart hits. If we take an example off one of the Beatles early works, Love Me Do It was in their younger years before they tried experimentation in different genres on styles. It provides a very basic pop lyric with rhyme rhyme rhymes to the chorus on because off those rhymes as a listener yourself, you know what's going to vaguely come next. So if you're in a pub or a bar, listening to a song on Do Something like This comes on is very easy view too quickly. Understand the structure of the song on the rhyme and then join in. You don't even need to listen to love Me do all the way through before you can start. Sing along with chorus later on. Let's say you've never heard before by the end, you can definitely sing along to the chorus because it goes like this. Love, Love me, Do you know I love you? I'll always be true. So please love me dio So obviously they've used repetition there as well do. But on the whole, it's Ryan Ryan Ryan throughout and straight away. You hear that, and you can repeat it again. And that's why, for lots of hook writing, Andi pop songwriting rhyme is such an important thing to be able to use the other key benefit off. Using rhyme in your lyrics on this comes from a position of honesty for me as a songwriter myself is that it makes it easier. This course is aimed largely at beginner on intermediate writers. Andi obviously once would strive to break the mold on Be original, but that's obviously extremely difficult. And when you're starting out having a rhyme structure and we'll discuss rhyme structures more specifically in the next video can really help you out when you're just trying to get those lyrics down on the page when you begin. So there's two examples there off, while using rhyme in your lyrics could be a great thing to do. Unsurprisingly, first of all, the main one is that it's what creates most Chart Hicks. We used the example the Beatles, but there are obviously a 1,000,000,000 other examples. It is hook writing. Rhyme is what makes most poppy choruses on. That's just how it is. And you should utilize that your only writing. We discussed that it provides a roadmap for audiences to understand the soul and structure on know where it's going, which leads to more audience participation, which there obviously leads to more successful so writing. Secondly, we mentioned how using rhyme structures on a ride more generally can allow beginners toe have their own personal format two songs, which makes it easier for them to get lyrics down on the page rather than having the stress of trying to write this amazing freeform poetry. Having the run gun some format in their head while writing can be a real help to someone who is just beginning, but you don't have to ride, let's talk about some reasons why having lyrics that don't rhyme could be a benefit as well . 12. Act 2 - To Rhyme Or Not Rhyme - Part 2 - An Example: here is the dope rhyme. Why would we ever write these in pop? Everyone seems to think that soul writing and pop lyric writing is the art of rhyme. But that's not necessarily the case. Let's talk about why having lyrics that don't run could be extremely important to your artistry as a lyric writer. One reason that having lyrics that don't rhyme could be important in your writing process is that lyrics that rhyme could box you in. Now we've discussed that the fact that those boxes they create couldn't be helpful for audience participation on helping listeners predict where the song is going and join in. But this really may not be what you're aiming for. You might be wanting to go for more original, freeform lyrics that people get something different from it every time, rather than a smash number one hit that people going to listen to for three weeks and then it disappears. The fact is, is that there are only a certain amount of rhyme schemes on you will have to conform to that. If you are writing lyrics to write. If you are going with the dope rhyme, suddenly the world is your oyster and you can write anything you like. It takes it back to that thing we were saying about how lyric writing is just poetry. It just so happens that it's to music once you take away the rhyme structures. Andi Hook writing style off predictable lyrics. Suddenly you can open up to write anything you want in different styles that my appeal to people differently. So the key reason, therefore, in my opinion, to use lyrics that don't rhyme is that it does create more poetic storytelling. You're no withheld by the boundaries of rhyme, structure or synonyms dot com. You can write exactly how you feel. And as we discussed earlier, the most successful songs on the best lyric writing come from honesty. They come from the heart, or they come from a real story that you saw out on the street on. That honesty could be better conveyed often when you're not having to worry about fitting a rhyme in. If there's a really specific word that you want to use in your lyric, but it doesn't fit to the rhyme scheme, you're gonna have to kill that darling and get rid of it. Whereas if you're not worrying about the rhyme scheme, then obviously, you can put in whatever you need on whatever you need can benefit the soul storytelling. You might listen to this and say Yes, It is easy to say that writing lyrics that don't rhyme could be beautiful poetry on make great songs. But everything I hear is rhyming. What's a good example? So to demonstrate this, let's discuss the song. This charming man by the Smiths is extremely descriptive on paints, an amazing picture of what Morrissey sees before him in the soul. But basically none of it rhymes. Even the chorus Let's have a look. Here are the lyrics to this charming man by the Smith, so we begin with punctured bicycle on a hillside desolate. Will nature make a man of me yet straight away? We know that we're dealing with quite complex lyrics compared to a lot of pop you hear these days on. There's no running there at all bicycle, desolate man of me, yet none of that there. One example to look at here, which is useful for you, is the swapping of words on the phrase on a hillside desolate, obviously in English language. You would say on a desolate hillside. But swapping round different words can be a useful way to makes things sound interesting. Sometimes with your lyrics. This swapping round off the phrasing off a sentence or line is helpful in two ways. First of all, you can use it just as a stylistic thing, which is been done here. But you can also use it to rhyme. If you were indeed writing rhyming song, perhaps you were trying to rhyme the word hillside, and it wasn't working. But your previous line does in fact rhyme with desolate. So by the swapping off hillside and desolate you can facilitate the rhyme or nature. Make a man of me. Yet now we're asking a question. Here it's a call to action of the audience or of the listener to listen in and understand the story They're being asked question. Therefore, they have an opinion on it, involves them in the lyric in the song. So now a charming man arrives in his charming car. The use of the charming, charming there isn't a rhyme again. Car man, charming and charming don't rhyme, but using the same word twice can work in some ways. it builds somewhat of a hook writing style lyric, even though you're not actually rhyming. Then we move into one of my favorite lines, which is why I pamper lives. Complex city When the leather runs smooth on, the passengers say now, this is a great run off use of syllables. Why pamper life's complexity when the leather runs smooth on the passenger's seat? Now, obviously, this doesn't rhyme complexity smooth and seat. But if you listen to that again there, why pamper life's complexity when the leather runs smooth on the passenger's seat is a very well crafted selection of syllables on beats to make up a bouncy verse to sing Essentially , Andi. You can see that Morrissey, while he isn't using traditional rhyming, rhyming rhyming, he's using other techniques to help the audience get onboard. Andi, I want to sing along with it. This song was written in part as an anti eighties, fast paced culture on the way that society was moving in England at the time. On That's why Morrissey uses words here like complexity. Panta handsome, charming, their words that people wouldn't have necessarily on said on the street now or then, as people were changing their lexicon on where they talked about things. So in that Morrissey's making his comment on society through the words he's choosing in the lyrics. So now we get to the pre chorus. I would go out tonight, but I haven't got stitched aware, this man said. It's gruesome that someone said Handsome should care. Now here we finally get a true rhyme. I haven't got stitched to where that someone so handsome should care. Now this is the first time we've got a true Rhine in the song Andi. It's probably because is on the build up to the chorus. They want to get the audience onside. Andi, you could do this through this rhyme. I particularly like the phrase have got stitched aware here again, discussing their not being on the on the nose with what you're saying. And don't be too literal with your lyrics. Naturally, he could have said, I haven't got anything toe where there's nothingto where the wardrobe is bare. It's that draw. But there's beauty in that phrase. I haven't got stitched aware on it sounds old school. In that theme that Morrissey was going for, the man said, it's gruesome that someone said Hampshire to care. So now we're involving the agency of this other character in the story, the man who's picked him up from the desolate hillside on. That's the storytelling, really, that's involving him in this story. We've understood the writer's opinion. The protagonist on Now we're hearing a quote from the other man in the car. We finally make it to the course. There's a little screen way goes up. A jumped up pantry boy who never knew his place, he said, Return the ring. He knows so much about these things. He knows so much about these things. In this chorus, we get another rhyme. We have returned the ring on about these things. They do rhyme Andi. Other than that, I will be honest. I don't really understand what he means with this chorus, but therefore it's open to interpretation. Andi, that's fine. And this charming man clearly proves that you can have a successful song that's loved by thousands, which you don't really know what's going on. The lyrics and people love to work that out. It is good to play halfway in between. You don't be too literal as we discuss in this course, But you don't wanna be too on the nose, either. Throughout the song, we have been understanding what's going on on in the chorus now. Perhaps we don't understand quite as much, but it's OK, because throughout we know what's going on. It wouldn't be quite as effective if the whole song was totally abstract and we really didn't know where we were. Then we finally have the I would go out tonight, refrain again, Andi. Then he sings La, la, la, la, la, la, la This charming man. Now that's obviously a classic way for audiences to join This'll Charming. Anybody can sing along to that, whether they listen to the song once or 100 times. So you get in the audience involved again, and we have one final more chorus, too. Wrap up everything without rhyme of Return, The ring on about these things. So you know this charming man provides an example of quite in anti pop song in many ways, with its structure on his lack off use of rhyme. But through the hook style of the melody, arguably Andi certain elements off hook writing that the public can get along with through various rhymes on the syllable was used for the bounce of the lines and a bit of la la la la la near the end. It creates an amazing song that commented on the society of the eighties of the time on became hugely successful. So let's go back to our original question. To rhyme or not to rhyme Well, ultimately, through this lesson, I hope you've learned that there are ways you can both rhyme on, not rhyme successfully in chart topping songs. But ultimately, the key lesson to take from this is that the rhythm and flow of the line is everything forgetting about rhyme schemes, Andi poet ticket lyrics and all this sort of thing. It's all about the flow of the line on the music that it's attached to. It's quite a difficult thing to explain how the rhythm of the line matters so much so we're going to use this example from R. E. M. Is very famous soul losing my religion to demonstrate. Finally, let's discuss the scientists by Coldplay, a song that I believe sits excellently in both camps off non rhyme on rhyme and yet still creates an amazing international hit. I have this lesson has helped you define the differences between rhyming and non rhyming lyrics and the benefits or disadvantages of both. As a final silly little note. You can even rhyme things that don't rhyme if you have a free minute on your hands, then gone to YouTube and type in M and M Orange rhyme, where one of the king's off lyric writing or rap writing is the same thing. Who's living in the world today? Eminem. He demonstrates in a TV interview that he can even rhyme the famously unreliable word orange check out. 13. Act 2 - Rhyme Schemes: rhyme schemes are an incredibly important part off some writing on something that is definitely great to study. When you're starting out in this section, I'm going to go over some well known rhyme schemes that will crop up a lot in pop songs that you listen to that you can apply to your only writing and use a real life examples to demonstrate how they work. We've discussed in previous chapters both the benefits and negatives of rhyming or not rhyming in our songs. And here we're gonna talk a little bit about what exactly a rhyme scheme is, and I'll show a few examples. I'm afraid there's not really much we can do in terms of analysis because Ryan schemes or something that really you need to just research and then practice yourself and see which works for you and which ones don't. So what exactly is a rhyme scheme? While a rhyme scheme is at its core, just a pattern is a pattern of rhyme that comes from the end of each verse, normally or line in poetry on therefore a song because poetry and songs are one in the same really as we've discussed in other words is a structural vehicle that the writer can use when they're doing their song lyric writing. So what are some examples? While first of all, let's go through some more begin outweighs off using rhyme scheme in your lyric, writing on wherever I can, I'm going to use songs that we will recognize. First of all, we got a B A B. Now this is a classic rhyme scheme with interlocking rhymes on often called alternate rhyme . But what do the letters mean? Well, essentially, every letter pertains to a line that rhymes with another. So here we use the example of Africa by Toto, the amazing song that everyone loves to sing to clubs. I hear the drums echoing tonight. That's a line A. But she only hears whispers of some quiet conversation. Now, tonight's and conversation obviously don't rhyme, so therefore they are not allocated the same letter. She's coming in 12 30 flights. Flights does rhyme with tonight. Therefore, it's a second a. And in the final line, the moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me toward salvation. Now that also rhymes again with conversation giving us the A B A B structure. Similarly, another nice easy rides game that you can practice with in the beginning On intermediate level of songwriting, Lyric writing is the A B B structure. This is a common pop structure and can be seen here in N Sync's bye bye bye Don't want to be a full for you Just another player in the game for two a You may hate me but it ain't no lie, baby Bye bye bye A be nice and easy Okay, So x What's an X now? An X is used to show who I was reading The rhyme scheme pattern whatever that it doesn't rhyme with anything else we've got there So here we're going to use the example of Friday I'm in love by the cure Another brilliant song I Eggs This is a rhyme scheme that I really enjoy using I've used it in lots of my songs. Um And so here it goes I don't care of Monday's blue blue being the Ryan Tuesday's grey on Wednesday to the rhyme Thursday I don't care about you is Friday I'm in love. This is a really great example. I think that shows how the a a X example works and Also, I think it works really well just to explain how rhyme schemes were generally because it's so obvious how it goes from the A to the X all the way through its blue to you and then bam love out of nowhere. And it makes it easy to understand this one here is a while it might seem that in terms of letters, this is the easiest. I've actually put it later on the list because it could be surprisingly hard to manage to bring out a and that's because you have to have a rhyme in every single line of the same style. Ed Sheeran's 18 is a brilliant recent example of this. If you look at the actual lines here, you can see what what ensuring is doing is quite complex. He's rhyming throughout, but when it's not just one word, he'll make one out to in the same style as Eminem. On they say she's in the class 18 stuck in her daydream, being this way since 18. But lately her face scenes you see here face seems, and 18 are technically two words, but together they form the rhyme 18 Daydream 18 face scenes slowly sinking, wasting crumbling like pastries. So this is a really excellent example off some quite complex rhyming using the A a a style , even reading it back there, you can hear how well written that is in terms of lyric on rhyme structure all the way through A throughout on. Incidentally, obviously it's named the A team. So is really well constructed by sheer in tow. Have both the name off the song on the rhyming pattern fit together. It's no wonder that that was the song that really brought him to the world stage. Here are a couple more styles, which are a little bit more difficult, which you can work up to using if you so require. That said, some of the ones we're going to talk about here are quite complicated, particularly the Oasis one. But it doesn't mean that it's necessarily a standard format, off rhyme scheme. Often, songwriters are just writing how they feel and what they want to say on then. You know, people like me or yourselves are applying our analysis to after Andi. The writers themselves would have no idea what a B X means. They just felt it, and it sounded good or looked good on the page. So, for example, we've got a X B B here, which is a slightly more unusual style in Abas s O s. Where are those happy days? They seem so hard to find a I tried to reach for you but you have closed your mind I Whatever happened to our love straight in the middle There doesn't have anything to do with anything I wish I understood It used to be so nice It used to be so good to bees there at the end. The most complicated rhyme scheme on the list is the now infamous Wonderwall Played all over the world by Newby Guitarist sitting in guitar shops. This one is a B c B D. C. So it's quite a lot of different things going on here. So let's have a look at the lyric to Day is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to, you know, rhyme by now. Used to somehow know realize what you got to do, do. And you b b. I don't believe that anybody again unrelated feels the way I do, which is like a little middle of the line rhyme there, said Middle of the rhyme bead rhyme. I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now. Si, si, quite a complex style, but it works. You don't have to follow the traditional easy peasy rhymes Games to make an amazing song that lasts the ages or fulfills whatever purpose you like. You've got to go with what you think when you're writing your lyrics. There's definitely no way that Noel Gallagher was thinking about a B C B D C when he was writing Wonderful when he was in his early twenties. Finally, we've got ex BB X, which is quite a popular I'm scheme, though slightly more complicated. Andi, we've got Frankie Valli's Oh, Water Night, December 1963 The wedding Party Dance for Favorite Oh, what a night late December Back in 63 they don't run. What a very special in time for May, that does rhyme. So therefore, we've got ex BB as I remember what a night nights doesn't rhyme with anything there. That said, some people do argue having things on the same word do count as a rhyme. There's people on different sides of this argument. I'm not really the sort of person that does say that it's a rhyme. But for example, in Elvis Presley's Hound Dog, you can see this You ain't nothing but a hound dog crying all the time. You ain't nothing but a hound dog crying all the time where you ain't never called rabbit and you ain't no friend of mine. Now, the only actual Ryan there is obviously time on mine, but throughout the song is used hound dog and crying all the time as quote unquote rhymes. They're not really rhymes in the truest sense, but in terms of your lyric writing and songwriting is good to know that you can use the same word often. Andi. To a listener, it does kind of sound. Luckett fits in a way that gave you a good introduction to the most popular rhyme schemes, and I love you, too. Now apply them to some of your writing at home 14. Act 2 - Song Surgery: it's song surgery time. I've got some lyrics here that I have created about a couple on. We are going to dissect them, see what's good, what's know and hopefully edit them to make a better set of lyrics. Towards the end, we've got one section or four lines second section four lines, which will be verse two and then third section, which is a chorus. So 1st 1 let's look at it. We've been together for some time said we'd stay here forever. Time flies by so fast with you I never want to leave us. Okay, so there's no rhymes here. Time forever You leave us. Is that problem? No, we've learned already that you don't have to rhyme, but we probably will put some rhymes into these lyrics on Let's see what we come up with. So the first thing I'm going to think about here is what the idea of the song is. Andi, I obviously right these So I know that the general idea is there about two lovers, too. Boyfriend, girlfriend or whatever on they are together. They've been there and he loves her. He's writing this song, but they're sort of growing apart or there. They seem like they're on different pathways in life, and that's what's going on. So the first thing we're gonna think about is I don't think I'm going to use a metaphor here. So I'm going to use the metaphor off a train going along on two different tracks, and that's going to be the idea of the song. So straight away we've been together for some time, said, We stay here together. Well, how can we apply that to our metaphor? How about we've been following the same tracks, tracks being what the train runs own, so we haven't really changed much, but we've been following the same tracks on we've been together for some time, doesn't have such a ring. Next, let's deal with the second line. So we've got said we'd stay here forever. I think this is an OK line. I think this is all right. So let's leave that there for a minute. Next, we've got time flies by so fast with you. Now I think that works for the minute as well. So let's leave that I never want to leave us. Okay, so now we've got we've been following the same tracks said we'd stay here forever. Time flies by so fast with you I never want to leave us now On second read there, I think Let's try and get a change into the second line I don't think that said we'd stay here forever. Works that well. So let's try to the horizon. So we're traveling along the desert landscape now in my head This couple we never looked back track and back And now rhyming thought for a x X In terms of our Bronski So second verse we traveled many miles at night You next to me in the moonlights Now this is Ah, easy, Nice melody There on a nice sorry not melody A rhyme there So we traveled many miles all night You sat next to me in the moonlight I think Let's keep we traveled many miles all night You sit next to me in the moonlight That sounds good To watch you sleep peacefully makes me happy to see Happy to see I do not think is a good line. Toe watches leave peacefully also is slightly creepy. Let's not being creepy. So let's change these two lines. This couple it what are we gonna say? Well, we've already established this metaphor of being on the train on this train of life and where it's going towards the horizon. What about he's watching her still, but he's watching Earth, like through the window through the window, or she's looking out the window. So watching you take in the scenery, what did you take in the scenery peacefully? I still like you sleep peacefully, but I prefer watching you take in the scenery makes me happy to see now, frankly, anything could be better than this line is terrible other than the fact that it runs makes me happy to see yeah, you could probably get a good rhyme in about being someone to be someone to be. I realized you'd always be so I like having being there. I really should always be a part of me rhymes vaguely with scenery. Scenery may Okay, that's good. That works. We traveled many miles at night. You next to me in the moonlight, watching you take in the scenery. I realize you'd always be a part of May, so that's a BB nice little rhyme scheme. We've got that. Let's move to the chorus because I don't understand. It's something I'll never learn your heart. Oh, I thought I had earned. We're heading in different directions now. Obviously, I've written this to be a bad lyric. This does not sound good at all. Understand? Learn earned directions potentially with a nice melody. It could work, but on them read. I don't think this is great. So what can we do to change it? Because I don't understand, is something I'll never learn. Mm. How about it's something out of my hands? Because I don't understand. It's something out of my hands. This is the story now that we've got off. The couple were trying to put ourselves in the head off. Who's writing this or the story of these people on this train across the desert landscape. He's looking at her. He doesn't understand why they're on these different parts of life. The different tracks. It's something that seems out of his hand. So what we're saying here is that it seems like it's on the girl. The girl is the one deciding, so I like that. So what we got next your heart? Oh, I thought I had earned. So now that we've changed learn. We need to have a different line here for your heart. I thought I had earned. So let's try. I'm glad our hearts your horse I'd earned. Let's try. I'm glad our hearts once aligned a slightly more complex were toe have there, but I think it would be good. I'm glad that our how hearts once aligned we're heading in different directions. So that works. Let's have that for the minute. Because I don't understand is something that's out of my hands. I'm gonna hearts once aligned, we're heading in different directions. That works, but it's still something not quite right. Let's go over things again. Repetition is a very important part off the lyric writing process Average discussed through this course. Let's go through the lyrics again to see what we like, and we don't. We've been following the same tracks to the horizon. We never looked back. Keep time flies by so fast with you. I never want to leave us. I'm re reading this. It does not work. I don't think Let's change this. What are we going to say now? We've got this dramatic story. Love story is like our something you would read or washing the film. How about writing our own history instead? Off time flies by so fast with you. Okay, So writing our history And now we want to try and get a rhyme with history. So we she something like that. I never want to leave us. So we wanna have something that still gets across the same idea but isn't quite as clunky. So how about a lthough time tissue on may writing our history all the time Just you and May That verse works next We traveled many miles or night You next to me in the moonlight watching you take in the scenery I realized you'd always be a part of May. This verse does work. I think this is nicely written. I think that the lyric works But for the purposes of this surgery, let's see if we can really zoom in on find something we want to change now I think the last two lines are quite pro poetic. Watching you take in the scenery, I realize you always be a part of May. But the 1st 2 lines are a little more generic and I think we can make them better. You sit you next to me in the moonlight. I think we can change that particularly. So let's try again with this train metaphor as we travel across the land or traveled, probably in the past tense as we traveled across the land, you next to me in the moonlight. Now again, we want to have the same idea. There together we sat side by side, hand in hand that would work land hand. We sat side by side, hand in hand, so that's really back. As we traveled across the land, we sat side by side, hand in hand. That's more emotive. I've discussed in another video of the course how using hands could be an emotive technique . When writing a love song, What do you take in the scenery are realized? It would be a part of May. That's a better line Well done for the minute Next chorus, because I don't understand is something out of my hands. I'm glad our hearts once aligned we're heading in different directions. I like the 1st 3 lines because I don't understand is something out of my hands? I'm glad our house once aligned. Now that's a slightly more difficult word to say in terms of Snow Hook Hook writing in the true sense where it's easy You you using to me, me, me, etcetera Really boring and easy. But it sounds nice and poetic hearts once aligned, but I don't think we necessarily need. We're heading in different directions. It does work, but we can do better now. Throughout this writing process, I've been thinking in the back of my head What's a nice way we can sum up this metaphor were trying to right here. We've got the couple and they're on the train. There's the sunset on the desert landscape. How about they both on the same train or perhaps even different trains? But they're on parallel tracks, so they're going along together. But then no together parallel tracks doesn't really work. I'm glad our house once a line, but now we ride on parallel tracks. It doesn't really work. Now what I'm gonna do here is referencing something I talked about in the rhyme schemes video. I'm going to essentially rhyme the same sound together I'm gonna rhyme, align with line and no is not necessarily a true rhyme, but is going to work it. So let's change out this final line before, but now we ride on parallel lines. So what would we go? Because I don't understand is something that's out of my hands. I'm glad that our hearts wants aligned, but for now we ride on parallel lines. Much better now. If you put the two beginning and ending lyrics together, you can see how much better the final version is. I hope that this lyric surgery really helps you analyze the lyrics that you're writing at home, because going over things again and again could be a great way to improve your work. Yes, some artists and yourself as well at times will come out with amazing lyrics straightaway straight on the page, five minutes done. But there's something to be said for working on it, particularly if you do want to create complex rhyme schemes or interesting rhymes or interesting words that you might know necessarily come up with straight away 15. Act 2 - Importance Of Structure - Lukas Graham : some structure and why is it important? So everybody knows that songs have sent elements introductions, verse, pre chorus, chorus, bridge on outright. But what is their importance on? Why should we care about it? As lyric rights is? Well, salt structure is important because what we're doing here is storytelling. Andi structure provides us with the way to tell an effective story. For example, the introduction it slowly brings in the music. Until we get to the verse, we start to describe what's going on in the song before we build to the pretty chorus. If there is indeed a pre course now, this is a build up to the huge part. The song, which is obviously the chorus where finally we reveal the true nature of the soul on will probably do that quite hook writing style before we then go back into the verse, what we're gonna do the verse. We're gonna tell more of our story. We go back into the pre chorus etcetera and that we have the bridge, which is like the low point off the second act in a film. It's when everything changes. So we've been bombing along. We've got up to the chorus. Now we're going down through the bridge where we go Take it back up to the final chorus on our way out. To give you an example of how important structure can be to a song on how it could be utilized to take the audience on a journey through out, we're going to look up Lukas Graham's chart topping here seven years. Let's take a look at the lyrics. Here are the lyrics to Lukas Graham's song Seven Years Now. The first thing to notice, as I have outlined here in Yellow, is that it starts with the chorus, and this is a technique with structure that you can use yourself songs, for example, like One Republic's counting stars also uses method. If you start with the chorus, it introduces the audience to most probably the catchiest part of the song, and straight away gets them hooked with the part that they're most likely to sing later. So here we have. Once I was seven years old, my mama told me, Go make yourself some friends or you'll be lonely once I was seven years old. Now, the reason that this is a great example of structure seven years is that it takes this chorus on then, while it keeps the same general theme changes throughout the song. So here we move into the verse seen in yellow. It was a big, big well, but we were bigger now, bigger and quicker. Here again are an example whereby you don't have to rhyme, but they sound close on the ear. Bigger and quicker are no officially arriving pair, but here it totally works, in the example by 11 smoking, herb and drinking burning liquor. Now again building on other lessons here, it's not too literal. Andi too obvious in its description, Lukas Graham could have easily said By 11 we were smoking drugs on board drinking alcohol. But no, he's gone for by 11 smoke in Harbin, drinking Barney Laika because it paints a much better picture of the party there at that age and again with the last line here never rich. So we were out to make that steady figure. Now, figure doesn't rhyme with anything we've had so far either, but it does have a close rhyme with bigger the same way the digga finger liver, all of these words. They're not officially rhymes but that doesn't mean you can't use them in your song. So we've had the introduction chorus straight into the verse as tradition. Then we have the course again, and then we have the cores again. But this time it's changed, is morphed as per the story we've had so far. And that's where the structure is starting to come in with how key is in this piece of music. We've had seven years old then we've described what his life was like an older age. Then the chorus goes to once hours 11 years old. So it's the same melody on the same rhythm of the lines. But now he's talking about being 11 years old, and here is a great example of storytelling within the verses in the chorus on how the structure is really helping that move along. So then we go into the next verse. I always had that dream, like my daddy before me, writing stories to bore me ever really know me. So obviously there's a use off me there multiple times, and in this course, when I write my own song from scratch, I use my own example whereby I come up with a verse on the same technique. Just because you have the same word, it doesn't mean you can't make it work with in a song. So here my daddy before me started writing stories. Obviously, that's the same e sound. There always seem to Bolding again will ever really know me now. Obviously they don't really rhyme is the same word, but it keeps the audience on that same hook, and it's easy to sing along to. We're now moving to the chorus again, but now he's 20 years old on. The lyrics are changing with him, my story got told. Now he's an older guy, and the band's career is kicking off. Once I was 20 years old, we're getting to the verse again and is getting more emotional. Now I've got my boys with me, at least those in favor of the people who are sticking with him. Another great example of not being too literal with your lyric. He could have said, I've got my friends around the ones that I like or the ones that still like me of my friends are still around in a better phrase and way. But no, I got my boys with me, at least that I was in favor. It's almost like a royal phrase royal turn of phrase there in favour. Those in favor a lady in favor, and it's a great way of describing having the friends around who like him rather than being bang on the nose with it. As we've said, we don't want to be on the nose. I like this last line here, and if we don't meet before I leave, I hope I'll see you later because it shows you how you can play with the amount of syllables in line. So thus far in the song at the end of verse, it hasn't bean as long as this, but here it really works, and it has a real bounce to it. So the lyric here goes. I got my boys with me, at least those a favor. And if we don't meet before I leave, I hope I see you later, and that's got a really great bounce on the tongue. And if we don't me before I leave and if we don't meet before I leave because what he's done, that is. He squeezed the words together almost like a rap on. It changes the verse that gives something fresh to the listener. Andi is great to sing as well. So now we move into the chorus again. He's still 20 years old. This time repetition. The audience can get on board of it. They already know this. Now they know is once I was 20 years old, but the lyrics change again. The structure again is holding this song together, him going older as we go throughout, telling a different parts of his life. And on the way now in the melody, it breaks down slightly to a more quiet section. Here, with food. Soon will be 30 years old. Are songs have been sold is almost taking a sad and note here. We traveled around the world and we're still roam it what they're looking for. Soon we'll be 30 years old. When we get to this set of lyrics, we hit the bridge, and this is when the emotional chords really start to strike. In the song, as I mentioned in the introduction, it goes from a nice little ditty of being a kid to quite emotional symphony. By the end off love and loss and marriage and Children, and this is where these cords have really started to be plucked. I'm still learning about life. My woman brought Children for me. Some are out seeking glory, and I've had to leave them behind is talking about real building blocks off human emotion and life here. Children love death, leaving people behind, and the bridge is a perfect place to do that on Lukas. Graham knows that and the bridge as well in terms of structure for you guys to know when you're learning it provides that changing of gears, ready for the final push on the song. On the way out, we move into the course again here. Soon I'll be 60 years old. My daddy got 61 talking about death there. But we can only do this because off the gear change we've had from the bridge before all of this it was just hanging out with your friends and being young and being a teenager and being silly. Now we've had all of this emotional stuff thrown into the song, and it's the structure that's allowed us to do this. Also, the production that's used in this area of the chorus that soon I'll be 60 years old. A bit of it is much more minimal. It's got that emotional hit to it because he takes away a lot of the drums and things, and you just hearing him with that sweet little piano before we finally rise to the last push where he goes sooner I'll be 60 years old on the course, rises and rises on. He uses his vocal range here to belt this final chorus, so we have to repetition choruses here of the soon I'll be 60 years old, part Andi. That's for the audience to sing along. They've been on a reald journey here now on. The structure has taken them from the chorus where they first got to know the song, the verses throughout on the changing courses with the different years to tell, a beautiful tale of someone's life. But then, after all of that, we take it back to the beginning. And as I mentioned in other lessons, songs are often well written when they come as a circle. There a story you want to take someone from the beginning to the end, and here Lukas Graham takes us to the end. Once I was seven years old, my mama told me, Go make yourself some friends. I'll be lonely Once I was seven years old. We go back to that original sweet little a few lines when we first started the song. We all know it. By this point. We've traveled the journey of the song with him, and we started with the chorus. We've ended with the course. Andi, Think of a what we've learned about this man and the band throughout is an excellent example of how structure can really help your lyric writing and, crucially, your storytelling. I have you enjoyed that break down there off Lukas Graham song Seven years. We can clearly see how well they use the structure to make that emotional punch. In this story, he goes in the beginning from being a young man, a child, on taking you all the way to being an old man of the end of his life, discussing love, loss, life, death, his Children. And that's something that we can all relate to. And that's why it's such a brilliant example of Louis writing Andi pop writing Overrule. It's the Third Way, as we've discussed in previous chapters, is got those hook melodies and the hook style of loot writing by embedded within a truthful tale that all humans can get on board with. We all think about getting older. We've all got families etcetera on. That's why it's so great. And then off course, the structure was brilliantly used by Lukas Graham, on top of all of that to really take you on a you know, a trajectory up through the song from the little sweet beginning of Once I was seven years old, all the way to being an old man at the end on the strings coming in. And it's just this huge piece of art, by this point on is gone from this little thing to this huge story at the end on that wouldn't have been accomplished without such brilliant use of structure. So take this as an example to always think about the structure in your lyric writing. Even if you're not writing the melody or you're not involved in the musical craft of it, just the lyrics on the page. Remember that it's extremely important that at some point it will go to music on that structure will be crucial in the storytelling 16. Act 2 - How Lyrics Affect Tone And Genre: being aware off the lyrics that you're writing on the genre or tone that they are conforming to now. Lyrics on their own, of course, have no melody to them. They really exist as words on the page. It takes the soul writing melody crew to change that into something you could listen to. And while they are there on the page, one might argue that therefore they can fit into any genre or into any tone off music on. It's important to recognize that that isn't necessarily the case now. Obviously, game changes exist in the world who mashed together different styles and create something new, which can be amazing. But on the whole, lyrics on the page will conform to certain styles, and it's important to be aware of this. For example, I've just written some generic romantic lyric here. I know, I know. I'll marry you tomorrow. I know in my heart now, obviously that's a very romantic lyric, and as it exists currently, it is just words on the page. Does it fit into any genre of music Now, if we were going to play this song, do you think that I know? I know I'll marry you tomorrow. I know in my heart will conform to the genre. Conventions off metal No on. That's not a bad thing. It's just the world we live in. And it's good to acknowledge these realities. For example, in Mice. By a time I scream, Right? Andi, if you listen to John Truby is course on screenwriting, who is very famous screenwriting teacher. He teaches about how screenwriting is essentially an exercise in genre. You need to be aware of the genre conventions to break them. For example, if you're watching a comedy movie, Andi, suddenly somebody came in on killed every single one of the main characters on. There wasn't no even a comedian way. They just killed them all brutally and horrendously allows it. Suddenly you've thrown the entire audience out of the place they were in. I'm wanting to be in on into something else that they're not gonna want to be a path because you haven't done it stylishly. Whoever wrote this fake movie I've just invented isn't aware of the genre conventions and therefore isn't adept at breaking them. Likewise, with your music and your lyric writing, you need to be aware that the lyrics that you're writing on the page as much as they don't have a melody at the moment, they will arguably conform to certain genres. The one I've just use. An example obviously, is a romantic song. It could fit into a very genres pop, Indy, etcetera. But it's not going to fit into metal. So when you're writing your legs, be aware of the genre conventions Andi study the type of music that you want to make because only then will you have the necessary facility to break those rules and be a game changer. Not many people are game changes. It's very, very difficult to mash up different styles on melodies and things like that, different instruments that might not necessarily be used in that kind of music and create something totally new. Obviously, that happens rarely on the people doing it are extremely influential, but on the whole certainly is a beginner watching this or intermediate rights up. You want to be aware that the lyric that you're currently writing will fit to certain genre conventions on. Perhaps that is where it should lead musically. That said as a final note before we move on, you can write lyrics that are totally different to the melody that they later get given. For example, if you listen to Van Halen song Jump, it sounds like an upbeat party tune, but it's actually about someone committing suicide, and there are various examples of these. So obviously, don't ever hold yourself entirely to genre conventions on the fact that because you're writing a romantic song, it needs to be on an acoustic guitar. But as with John Truby on taking advice and screenwriting, be aware off the conventions of the genre, because only then can you break them. 17. Act 2 - Are My Lyrics Too Simple? Too Literal?: So you worried that your lyrics are too simple, generic on potentially too literal? Well, what we gonna do about it now? Firstly, it depends on what you want to do with that lyric. Because, as we've mentioned before, when you're writing pop, it doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing to be simple. Lots of the best pop songs ever written, and some of the best songs anyway that have been written, have got a very simple vocal. For example, the song Hurt by Nine Inch Nails, which was famously covered by Johnny Cash, is extremely simple. I hurt myself today to see if I could still feel it's so literal that it's brutally honest in its storytelling, and it's brilliant for it, so I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. But it is a common question off beginners, often as well when they're writing lyrics that they their rights to to the point. Obviously, that example there for Nine Inch Nails has real beauty in the brutal nature off it. But new writers often find themselves writing brutally honestly about things in not quite the same way. It's very much I saw the girl I like. I don't know their dad. Here's an example. This is the music to a song I have written in the palace called Pill of Love. It was about my girlfriend at the time and she had depression and was ill with it and was on medication on. I wanted to help her, you know, get out of it with my affection and whatever. These lyrics could potentially be a first verse, but I don't think that they work on. I will show you. Why in a minute, baby. All really? And I don't get in. I really was shocking Help! I want Teoh. I know you want to stop all this hood. Okay? Sounds fine, baby. You're ill and I don't get it. I really wish I could help. I want to heal your pain. I know you want to stop all this hurt. I know these are bad lyrics in the way that phrase, but that is a good example Off. Very literal to the point you're ill. I don't get it. I want to help. I want to help you pay. I know you want to stop all of this. It's fine, but it could be jazzed up a bit on. The main point we want to learn here is skirting around the issue. While still talking about the issue is the best form of lyric writing. It doesn't sound too literal, but it also doesn't sound too vague. The listener can understand it. So this is the real lyric from my song you're holding. Something I don't understand doesn't mean that I can take your hand guides through taco basis way from something that's your never means. Hey, you're holding something I don't understand, so you're ill, but she's holding something. What you holding? We don't really know. But we find out later is that she is ill. I'm not was going straight away. You're ill and I don't get it. Secondly, I really wish I could take your hand originally, right? I wish I could help you is exactly the same, but it's more a motive. It's about a relationship. It's about a boyfriend girlfriend holding hands. It's storytelling. I really wish I could help. Doesn't really get it across quite the same way. Then we have the next line on here was, I want to hear your pain. Okay, mine is and guide you through the dark abyss, which is a much nicer, more descriptive mawr. Emotional way of saying I really wish I could help. I want to hear your value. I'm going to guide you through this horrible expanse off black abyss that everyone could imagine in their head. Andi, no, There isn't a literal abyss, but it works on. I hope you can see that example and then finally got I know you want to stop all this hurt now this is no good lyric anyway. But again, brutally literal. And it doesn't really work in. My version is guided through the darker best away from something that you'll never miss. Quite Raimi there, I must say. But it's taking her away from this pain. It's moving away. We've gone across this abyss that you're imagining in your head and you're traveling to a new land or wherever, like it would be in movie on your taking her away from it. And that is just a lot better than I know. You want to stop all this hurt. That is a bad lyric. So I hope that example helps you understand vague versus literal Andi, how, in my opinion, as a teacher, that It's about skirting around the issue, which makes great lyric writing. It's sitting on both sides of the fence, both being literal in that the audience can understand it, but also vague, as you can get in some poetic beauty to the lyric on that No, I think a top tip for when you are trying to work that muscle that we're trying to do here of more beautiful lyric writing, basically, is to read poetry. Andi. That could be traditional poetry of Shakespeare, Andi, Byron, whatever, but also modern poetry. You could listen to Bob Dylan. I mean, he won the Nobel Prize for literature for how great his lyric writing was on. His turn of phrase is amazing. For example, this is from Don't think twice. It's all right, I am saying, Treated me on kind. You could have done that, but I don't mind. You kind of just wasted my precious time. Don't think twice. It's all right now. I don't know what don't think twice. It's all right, really is specifically about, But it's a beautiful way to phrase time lost in relationship on the fact that he's wasted his time with this woman, which you'll never get back. Andi. Likewise, Bob Dylan was particularly brilliant with his writing because he captured history. This is something that you shouldn't necessarily hope to do a lot of. The reason why he is so famous as a lyric writer is that his songs captured a moment largely in the sixties. For example, Hard Rain's Gonna Fall is actually about the Cuban missile crisis. On things like that, you shouldn't be thinking, Oh, God, I need to be capturing history to write good lyric That's definitely not the case. There are very few people out there like Bob Dylan. When you were trying to write a nice pop vocal, you don't need to be worried about that. But nonetheless, listening to his music on reading other poetry can be a great way to help that. Likewise, I think listening to Bruce Springsteen is another great person to have a look at. Read some of the lyrics to his albums either Very famous born to run album is obviously brilliant, but also some lesser known tracks on other albums. One particular song, I think, is great to listen to. Is the river quite across the board? Really Bruce Springsteen song writing is amazing storytelling. When you listen to his songs, you are transported to being in New Jersey with him in the E Street band. On the way he discusses the local specificities off his life really transports you to that world. And it's a good example again of how he can flip between small things are very descriptive and literal off his actual life, which paint the picture off the world he inhabits but then discussing the wider themes in a more open, vague way. Which brings in that beautiful lyric style. Lastly, if you are going, Oh God, my lyrics were get simple whatever. Try and play with the structure of songs to fit in simple Andi, not necessarily as blatant. For example, we are writing Pop largely here in the chorus Go simple, But then in the verses, if you are so in kind, that's where you can put in your I am saying you treated me unkind. You could have done better, but I don't mind like in Bob Dylan song. Don't think twice, It's all right. That's where you can get that stuff in because you're not gonna have huge crowds singing that in a chorus, really? So just play with the structure of song to help fit in simple or more complex lyrics wherever you like. 18. Act 2 - How Long Should A Lyric Be?: How long should a lyric be? It's a very difficult question that depends on a few factors on it Depends what you want from the song. Really three minutes 30 can change your life on Yes, that is obviously true off certain pop songs. It's probably the pop tune standard three minutes to three minutes 30. But that doesn't mean you come not break the mold with your lyrics. For example, Cat Stevens song T for the Tillman about one minute long. It's a brilliant song, brilliant lyric. As most of Cat Stevens stuff, you should check out his writing for great lyric writing. Father and Son is amazing on It's been used as the Extras Ricky Gervase show theme on on various other adverts and things so widely renowned to be a great little lyric Great song just 11 minute long. Likewise, their way to heaven is famously eight minutes, so there's no real hard and fast rules about what lyric should be in limp. But certainly if you're a beginner, it's good to keep around that 3 to 3.5 minute because it gets you practicing correct structure correct structure in that you can fit in a verse you can fit in a core us you can fit in a bridge, etcetera, all within a nicely rounded little parcel that people can listen to. Now the way to define how long your lyrics should be is dependent on a few factors. First of all, what do you want to do with the song on? What do you want from it? Really? For example, if it's going to be on your album that you're creating an E p, whatever and you're perform yourself for somebody else's e P etcetera, it might be the opening track. It might be a tiny little piece off this larger puzzle. Andi, for example, Kanye West's early work had a lot of these tiny bits of songs here and there. In between instrumentals, maybe, is that, but conversely, it might be the grand altro off 15 minutes with strings on the London Philharmonic Orchestra. That is gonna be at the end of this incredible album that you're obviously making, and therefore the lyric will be 10 minutes long on That's up to you. But of course, if you are going for pop, you do want to stay around three to maximum foreign offish minutes. The second most important factor in defining how long a lyric should be is how do you want to tell that story that you're discussing in the lyric? For example, if you were writing a song about a group of friends and there were eight of you and you've decided for artistry that there's gonna be eight verses on eight lines in every verse on it has to be that way because of whatever reason to you, then obviously that lyric is going to be longer and that's your prerogative. You're you're the songwriter. You're writing the lyric. It's up to you. A good example would be Freddie Mercury writing Bohemian Rhapsody. He decided that it was going to be in the form of an opera on it reaches about 5 5.5 minutes. Obviously, the lyrics are somewhat bizarre in their nature. On If you watch the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, you can see the dramatized version of them giving it to the record executive who unsurprising. And he was like, What is this? This is not going out on them saying, Well, it has to go out. It's a good watch, by the way, if anyone hasn't seen it. But that's how Freddie Mercury wanted to do it on. Obviously, as we know now, it's gone on to become one the most famous songs of all time. So you can be that, Walter, you decide how long that Eric is. But ultimately, yes. If you want to write a pop song on your writing lyrics, you hope to be in the charts or fit to a certain pop narrative instructor. Then, yes, it should be around 3 to 3.5 minutes, certainly for beginners, because the longer the lyric or the short of the lyric at least the questions off structure . What do you leavin? Do you remove a chorus? Do you put in a pre course? Do you put in 45 verses? If it's really long on, obviously, that's more advanced lyric writing, more advanced songwriting. And so when you are just starting out, just stick to that 3 to 3.5 minutes. I would recommend doing that 19. Act 3 - A Lyric From Scratch Live - Part 1 - Intro: How do we write a lyric from scratch? I'm gonna go and sit at that table right now on look up online an article or a new story that I find interesting. I'm going to write the lyric right there at the desk. I will skip through any boring bits, but I am really gonna go and sit there on film myself the entire time until I come out with a lyric at the end and we can go through it and analyze how we got there. Okay, so here we are. I'm going to go online right now, and I'm going to start Googling to see if I can find any interesting stories to write out lyric about. Okay, so I found one that I'm interested in on I think could potentially make a good lyric. It's cold. The freedom Hong Kong needs most is freedom from violence on at the time of recording this there are currently writes going on in Hong Kong about the political system on their relationship with mainland China. And this article here is about Hong Kong on how they need to free themselves from violence . And in a way, I don't think the riots are helping. That, I think, is the point of the article. So I'm going to read it, and then I'm gonna start writing as a note on what you write on. Obviously, writing the lyrics on paper is fine. Or writing on a computer is fine. Personally, I like to write it on my computer because I can get rid of the old and put in the new quite quickly. But there is something quite nice about writing on paper. I know there are some artists. I think it's Oh, no, I'm thinking of Lady Gaga and a star is born, she writes on the typewriter on. I'm sure there some artists out there to do that, but for May I just right onward. It's nothing wrong with that. I think if you write on paper, there is an argument that you hold on to their collect more when it's on a computer. Like with a lot of things these days are with technology. They are quite throw away. You could write an amazing lyric and then, because it's on a computer, get aren't now delete, put in a new one, whereas if you'd written it down and saved it on a little note in your pocket when you were trying whatever it would probably mean mawr on. There's not necessarily a good thing, but personally, I liked right. 20. Act 3 - A Lyric From Scratch - First ideas And Blah Blah Blah Method: May 55 Freedom 555 So what I'm doing here is what I call my blah, blah, blah method. I have the idea for the song. It's gonna be about riots, Andi, violence, Andi, Nonviolence and nationalism in pride in your country or whatever that something on. I have accords idea. For the record for the guitarist of you out there, I've got a kapo on six on I'm mucking around with these cords see at night and I think I just found a potential bridge around So with this blah, blah, blah thing I know sounds silly, but this is how I actually write songs on I think it's quite a good, consistent Basically, if you can call it that. Basically, I just randomly sing lyrics that don't really mean a thing until they start to form into something. So, for example, at the moment I'm going Not if I see you feeling, but on the streets call about I know. Yeah. And then a minute ago, I came up with this, so I was actually going bye bye, women on freedom. And then I came up with this 555 for freedom that about five time like that for your freedom is about the song. It's slight hook writing that five found bad. That kind of double thing is quite good for a pop Sound your freedom. So I've got a star and I'm gonna start writing on my computer. 21. Act 3 - A Lyric From Scratch - Chorus: Okay, so I've started a few more lines down About 5555 freedom two nights and not we gotta Peter . I can lost device on the streets. 55 So that's okay. I think it's all right. I don't like the line, but I can't watch the violence on the streets. It's too. It's too literal on. I don't think the rhythm of the line works that well, I don't think it is. It fits. So we're gonna come up with something better than But I can't watch the violence on the streets. So I got five. Fight, Fight for your freedom Tonight's the night we gonna beat him Now some people would say that the fact that goes tonight's the night doesn't work there or if you think about it theoretically, putting the same word in the same line probably wouldn't sound great, but it does work it. 555 Fully freedom two nights and now we got a bit. It's like a double emphasis two knots that not two nights than not you see, So we need to come up with a better line. Then I can't watch the violence on the street. Okay, so I'm gonna change it to I can't move for blood on the streets. Also, for this intro to the chorus, it's gonna be a There's a little line before it Life I often do this and you can do it yourself when you're writing Your letter is you can fit in a tiny little phrase in the gap between elements of structure So to help your storytelling So, for example, here is gonna go verse And then So they say, I thought 55 fully freedom because I am not saying my character in the song is the Nonviolence person. They're not saying fight, fight, fight for your freedom. Tonight's the night We're gonna beat him there and see that So if you didn't have the so that so they say No, it would sound like it was your character on We don't want that. 5554 Free time Two nights And now we're gonna beat on him. I can't move for bad on the streets. Okay, that sounds better. So we carry on actually listening back to that again there. I think it says having but I can't move. Doesn't work. The rhythm is off. So he won't fight for the freedom to Nice. And now we've got beat up. I can move blood on the streets. That's that that fits better. I've just added, like a second bit off that chorus there, so it's gonna be able to call and response So we have the freedom that we had, and that's the protester speaking the violent one. And now it's a call and response thing where then my character then voices their life. So it's now becomes the bit we've had. And then it goes. But I say, which is another mini leading to the next lines. Fight, fight, Fight for your freedom spread. Love is how we're gonna beat him. Come on. No, come now. It's the only way you'll see. So now we've got their opinion, then opinion on that could be a great thing to utilize when you're writing. Lyric is the juxtaposition off various elements on here. It's a Tuareg. It's an argument that's happening essentially in the lines. We've got one person's opinion, and then our version of the argument on that would be the threat. I feel like it's building up to something here because I don't think with these lines. We've got enough of a hook based course for this pop, even vaguely pop some. It's, I think, the lyrics are pretty good so far on. It's a nice little story we're telling with the corn response. But I don't think there's enough of anthemic singalong. You type bit. So we're gonna utilize just some simple lyrics here to write that in. So I'm just gonna think some now so it's gonna be going by 55 Freedoms spread love. It's how we gonna beat him. Come now. It's the only way you'll see and that will build up So we come. Come now the only way on Then it'll be something. So let's go with Try this The only way. See me only we're seeing with me. OK, so I'm going a bit too outro there. That sounds a little bit like an outright, but I think that's OK. Uh, the only way R c I like that little melody The underway See Come may me I don't really like to join together that come join me. Come with me is better. It's more of a call to action. Call to actions could be good to put into the lyric. Okay, so we've got somewhat of a chorus there. Okay, so this is what we got So far, I've moved the Kapo down a little bit because it's easier meeting on. It's easy for you to hear the words as well when it's a little bit. So they say that 55 for your freedom. Two nights. Enough. We're gonna beat them. I can't move for but on the streets. But I say 55 spread love. It's how we gonna beat him. Come now. The only way O c way I see c c. Come with me. You see the only way they go back into something. So let's try and write some verses. 22. Act 3 - A Lyric From Scratch - Verse Continued : I was gonna just do the same court with first. I think it should have a little bit more of a sad atone. So I'm going with C and nine J for the musicians among you on. So now I'm looking to the article for a bit of inspiration. So there's quite a cool line here, which is so it's obviously it's about. There's lots of good language in here got total collapse. But the line I like particularly is whatever the rights and wrongs, we must look beyond any misguided slogans. Any misjudged decisions on any misconduct of those in power If there be, I like that misguided slogans, misjudged decisions, misconduct. It's got a nice hookey type toe tap to it. Scott Slow Gers I take that and I blah blah our it with my new courts misconduct called Khar. Got it. Slogans around Mr E. So I think that's a line there that could be a good starting point verse. Miss Godin Slogans Miss God, it's slow, Miss Scott. It's slogans around that's still misconduct in the crowd. Okay, there's so that doesn't work. Let's not do There's so much misconduct misconduct in the crowd. So this is an example. These words don't rhyme, but it still works. Misconduct. Misguided slogans around so much misconduct in the crowd around and crowd don't actually rhyme, but they sound similar when you sing them. You can do research when you're writing your lyrics. You should look into whether they do fit like this or no, If you're not singing yourself, obviously, just try and sing it at home and see if it does work. It's quite obvious if it doesn't know. But just because it doesn't rhyme, it doesn't mean you can't use it. So that's beginning of of us on. I'm gonna do a bit more work on it, continue to be more of us on. So this is what got now misguided slogans around so much Miss condom, So much misconduct in the crowd. A scarlet river now runs through my town. I feel as if we're losing our crown. So I have been to Hong Kong on There is Big River that goes through the middle of it on the two sides, Hong Kong side and Calhoun. That's how is so what I've done. There is mixed in real geography off Hong Kong by talking about the river Andi referencing the blood as it were, or the violence on the streets through the motif off the river. Being a scholar, river as in the river, running red with blood. Now, if I've written here, uh, bright Red River runs through my town or there's blood in the river that runs through my town. It doesn't sound good. A Scarlet River is close enough for the listener to understand that it's about the blood. Inside a Scarlet River is close enough to the point for people to understand as they listen to the song and particularly on re listens, that that's what it's about. But it's no so on the nose that it will cringe you out. As we've discussed in other lessons, you don't want to be too literal because it sounds slightly silly. The beauty in the lyric is, as we said before, skirting around the issue in a descriptive, storytelling way, rather than saying this is the exact thing. Unless you are crafting something that has to be that brutally honest and then I feel as if we're losing our crown now, this doesn't necessarily mean loads or it can mean a lot town and crown are obviously an easy rhyme. Couple it there. Scholar River runs from my town. I feel as if we're losing our crown. That's a very easy run, so it fits nicely for a poppy vocal. This is quite a sad puppy vocal. This wouldn't be a lyric that you'd see in a happy set, but the reason I've chosen Crown is we're storytelling here on the person who's discussing these lyrics. Whoever this person may be a Hong Kong native, everyone writing as a nonviolent Hong Kong meitiv on, they feel fear that they're losing their identity through the violence that's around, and they're losing their quite a crown now. Obviously, that is No, that is not a real existing crown eyes just a metaphor, but I'm using. But it works. So this is what God misguided slogans around so much misconduct in the crowd. The Scarlet River now rose for my town. I feel in losing no chrome, Then I feel like it's going to go harder. So let's write some lyrics for that. I've just realised that I sang that differently there. I wrote it on said it initially, as I fear I feel as if we're losing our crown. But in actuality, either in sang a different line and I cut a couple words out because it sounds better. And then this goes back to the rhythm of the line that we've discussed earlier. So actually is better to go. I feel we lose in our crown rather than I feel as if we lose in our crown, which tutti isn't. 23. Act 3 - A Lyric From Scratch - Verse Continued Part 2: Okay, so now I'm going for a bit more inspiration from the article. It's on Time magazine. If anyone ever wants to look it up. Um, Andi, there's good stuff here about the government. Rights is not listening to reason coming from the government. So what I'm gonna do here is I'm gonna re appropriate the word government with boss. So I don't think the world government sounds great in the song. This isn't I love. This is as a political thing, I guess, obviously because of the nature of it. But on the whole, I personally don't really like to write political songs on. I don't think the word government fits that well into a pop lyric. But what we're gonna do is we're gonna take that idea off the government on the people in this thing, and we're going to change that to be the boss or the man or something like that. I don't want no more orders from the man. I don't want no orders. That is Mark two. Doesn't wise too long. I like that from the man that I'm keeping that if you like a certain of it, Keep it, but definitely don't have it as a given. There's a phrase in which is used quite a lot, and people like to use it with writing in various forms. Kill your darlings. If you have something you really like, be prepared to cut it because you don't wanna be stuck with this one piece. That's really great. And then lose a whole song because of it. And you've got his rubbish song around it. But because you love these two words so much, you can't get rid of them. So I want to change this first bit. Don't want no orders from Doesn't really work. So I'm keeping from the man. Let's go with this will be part of your writing journey. Lots of I don't know what to say. I changed it to We are tired off taking it from the man. Now listen to this back. I think it sounds a little bit. Is a bit generic. We're tired of taking it from the man. I feel I've heard this before and it's a bit obvious. Um, so tired of taking for the man. I prefer that that the kind of were element I don't really like. I prefer this so tired of taking from the man. So that's that's okay. Let's go with that. So tired of taking so child taking a found man. Way to stand again, man stand, don't rhyme, but there's nothing wrong with that. It sounds fine. It's time that we so tired of taking it from the man. It's time that we took a stand. Sounds perfect. Lol, even though they don't right, so don't always need to hold on to that little beginner's Think everything has to rhyme. Doesn't have to rhyme. I don't have something about the people are being violent on. They've taken what weapons and things. And that's not what this guy likes. The person we're writing about the pacifist. So I'm using the word neighbors quite like that instead of you know, my community sounds rubbish or whatever neighbors gets it across again. We're close to it, but we're not necessary. Bang on their away, his neighbor. But we know what you mean. I've written a few more lines. We've got so tired of taking it from the man. I'm not a big fan of that line, but I am gonna leave it in. It's time that we took a stand my neighbors loaded and ran, but I won't sit by and join in their band. So this isn't quite finished yet. I'm sure you come here. There are some issues there. So how did we come to these lyrics? We've got all my neighbors locked, loaded and ran. So this is them all the violent locals picking up weapons. They're not gonna be picking up guns, Most likely. But lock loaded is a cool phrase. It's tucked up locked, loaded look. Loaded lock is a cool word. It fits well on the militarisation of locked loaded double. L l l sounds cool in the line, in my opinion. So this sounds wrong, for starters, because it goes my neighbors locked, loaded and ran, So it will have to be Oh, my for it to fit the words to fit the line. Oh, my neighbors locked, loaded and ran. Now, I don't really know where these people running in my version, they're running towards the rights and things, but they could be running anywhere. I guess to just leave that to me was imagination. All my neighbors like loaded and ran, but I won't sit by joining joining the band now Obviously, this isn't a band. It's no a band where they're playing instruments. It's just a general word for a band of a community, a certain group of people together, like Band of brothers, whatever again. It's no bang on. You don't want to be on the nose. Being on the nose is not good, but I won't sit boy and join in their protesters riot at the University College. It just doesn't work. So that sounds okay. I think that might be maybe one too many syllables that Oh, my neighbors like loaded ran. But I won't sit by joining back, but I won't sit on join. I think it's OK. So this is what we got so far. Obviously, repetition is a big part office like you. If you want to write lyrics, you are gonna have to repeat yourself again and again. Scott slogans around so much misconduct in Scotland River runs through my town. Feels a full was in our crowd Suit side second from the man So which stay money loaded ran bond joining Nice. Now we're gonna be I can't move for blood on the streets. But I say no way. I'm not the only way I see the only way so far. I wouldn't say the melody is necessarily working for me. But this is about lyric writing, so don't worry about that for a minute. I don't if it quite fits my vocal personally, but I think lyrics are going okay. 24. Act 3 - A Lyric From Scratch - Pre Chorus Attempt - Accidentally Wrote A Bridge!: do we want a pre course? It's a difficult question whether you need a pre course on. No, it depends on every song. I think that a pre course somebody would be good hit. Sometimes it's best to get straight into the course. I think here, maybe we could, because it's going from, But I won't see by well said by enjoying their best. So that said, Freedom to Night. I think it's probably slightly too close. I feel like there needs to be a little bit more distance there in lyric in the song, so we'll probably bring in a few different courts. A minor is in the same key, so So I think I quite like the A minor g d. I just been trying right Pre chorus accidentally wrote a bridge, so this was what I was going to have. Geo. I just don't think it really works as a pre course. I think it's probably a bridge. Those lyrics for the minute. I just put them there as placeholders for my brother, so the moment just says I can feel there's a change in the ground. I don't know what it is coming from or something but we're gonna change this. So let's just do the bridge quickly while we're there. Bridge is difficult because some of them are really great. Taylor Swift that she does really good bridges on Listen to Love story. I think it's the one is really good, but also people don't like bridges a lot, so I don't like to keep them too long because they do. They do work to fit into the song, to change it up a bit in there towards the end and get you ready for that final chorus. But you don't over egg it on, have loads and loads of lines in the bridge Just keep it short and sweet. So here will probably may have to line bridge. So let's think of what to do. I've got a bit of a two line breach here. There's a There's a line in the article. It says, um, cast off one's chains in a quote from somebody. So I'm gonna your I like big chains bets I'm going to use that we're gonna rise from our chains. I've put instead, but let's do it the right way. Now I don't really like that. Sounds silly. We're gonna do it the right way. Um, so we're gonna change that way? My change Bless Teoh. Yeah, that does not do that. Well, I like the first line, but I can hear drums on that with stuck again. Here we are. Once again, we're gonna rise from my chains. So I think I'm gonna have to kill a darling here. I like the We're gonna rise from our chains, but I just can't think of anything that goes with it. So I like the idea of getting heart into it because we've had the love thing earlier. Uh, where is it? Five. Your freedom spread love. So I quite like the idea of having the heart thing heart the word heart in it. So we're gonna have, but it's tearing us apart, tearing me apart. Let's make it me. It's about this guys, and that will go over is I know it comes from the heart, but it's tearing me apart. Tearing me apart, I think works. It's quite classic thing toe have you tearing me apart? Love will never tear us apart except drugs. So now you go on my way from hearth but a sterile me. But they say So here. We're gonna have to change the so they say to, But they say But they say five full freedom and then because of the way the bridge is here . And this is why I don't think it would have made a good pre course. It goes nicely into a kind of muted chorus buildup, which we can then repurpose our course for lyrics again. So we'll go. Uh, no. Let's go down again. As I've been writing, it's my lyrics have been going higher and higher. I know it comes from the heart. Hold on that note. Actually, it's good to know when you're writing a lyric, where to leave gaps. You don't not overfill the music, particularly if you've been given musical ready, you can you need to let it breathe in certain areas, you don't want to fill every space, so we're going to leave a little pools here. It's tearing me of, uh, but they say freedom to nice know we're gonna be them. I can't move for blood on streets, but I say 555 for your way. The only way you are, we've got That's the hardest bit done. Now Once you've written the lyric for the verse and the chorus, you The rest is kind of the easy bit. Verse two is obviously already been set once you've got your structure on the general idea of this. So here in this song is obviously it's the two and froze the juxtaposition we spoke about before you got my characters Argument, the Nonviolence. And you've got the protester with the violence argument. So we've got verse one known either pre chorus. So what we're gonna do for that? 25. Act 3 - A Lyric From Scratch - Pre Chorus Writing: Bevan idea for a pre course mawr babba dabba dabba don't have any direct story yet, so it's gonna be joining. Got it under. So now I need to write some look for that as we've discussed before, Pre course should be really build up to chorus. So that's why I like that. That's why with the bridge, it wouldn't have worked. No, it comes from the, uh, doesn't sound like a pre course. It's not building up to anything. And so what? We're gonna right as the lyric for this squat little lyric now for the pre course. But I'm going to change it and I'll explain why. So it goes. It's a big game with both want the same. I will know her allowed to be reclaimed. Do that, Dio. Now this works. It's a big game. Both want the same. I don't know. I land to be reclaimed on that. I was gonna have another line going in, but it's quite complex. It's a big game, both on the same. I would know her our land to be reclaimed. No, but I want this to be more pop. I want this to be more repetitive on Mawr here with me, So I think I'm just gonna come this down to. It's a big game. We both want the same and that would be our pre course because then it goes into the chorus and I'll change it from So they say, Fight, fight, fight for freedom. But you say Or but they say Flight, few freedom and then they're talking about wanting to fight for it. That's a big game. We both want the same. I won't know how a last be reclaimed big game of Baba about for whatever the next line is. But I'm going to change that to just be one line, because it's more poppy, more hook kind of vibe, and I'm gonna leave as it's a big game. We both want the same. So let's try that game report. Want the same? It's a big game about what the same big game about once a day. Now, that's okay, but I don't if you noticed, but there's a small thing there. I need to change. It doesn't work on the last line, so we got. It's a big game. We both want the same. It's a big game. Both want the same It's a big game with this. A game if you carry on the like, say, aims to make it fair. But that needs to change because otherwise it just sounds. Robert at the moment is it's a big game. Let's play, I'm gonna try doing It's a big game. We both I want to play, need to play even because they have to do it because it's their homeland and whatever. Half a need to play, perhaps, is better need to play because it's their homeland and they would feel very passionately about it. Character in here is because that's what we're doing. We're telling a story with telling a story, and we've got our head in this character, and I'm aware that I don't know much about this subject. But I'm writing in a more generic stance other than the line about the river is in, um, ordinary stamp would. So it's a big game. We both want the same. It's a big game with both on the same. It's a bit came and both need to play. Okay, I like that. I think I need. I did the wrong corner. It's a big game about need to play A But they say I'm gonna take you. Say, because I like that it's two people that having an argument rather than they as a mass. But you say I agreed on two nights. Okay, cool. Second verse on, then. Well done, I think. Yeah. 26. Act 3 - A Lyric From Scratch - More Verse: the second verse. Time is normally where the drums come in in typical songs there in the chart. It's very classic thing to do, so it should be a little bit more powerful than the 1st 2 That sort of 1st 1st So it's back to these cause way. Talk about this first. Yeah, I quite like the idea of being a bit brutal and honest about maybe what is happening. If people are getting her in the streets, the edge of total collapse, that's interesting. I think I have a thread for it. I think I'm going to right as if Right? And we're going to say, If you carry on in your way the violent way things are going to get even worse on now. The course. The vocal is gonna be a bit more hard core and the lyrics going hardcore in the second verse because we're not just lulling through the song anymore, like when you first come in your your head in in the beginning with Verse one, and it's normally too slow on the way up. Now it right in the middle of the Sox. It needs to be a bit more kind of punchy. So I'm just gonna start right so random stuff and see what Keep keep going your way on. Well, then I've start writing here with keep going your way and will burn. Throw away that freedom you. Now, I know this is using freedom again, but I have looked online for a synonym and I can't really find anything that fits that well , liberty throwing and live in you. Are you okay? That works freedom. Liberty, like three. Never liberty due to do. Keep going away and move on a way. That liberty. You do? Yeah. It's quite hard to say that. Throw away the liberty, Liberty. Nobody in captivity, captivity. Keep going your way. We'll throw away, throw in a little bit You your So I've got throw away that liberty you own But it's a bit boring. I'm prefer the hard words are cut down It doesn't make much sense, but from a lyric perspective, I think that works But down that liberty your keep going on where you move on curd off, cut down Doesn't really work. Cut off that liberty. Yeah, I was better. Keep going away way good that you your I think we've got a look now for first to keep going away and will burn. Cut off that liberty you yearn melts down your sword and shield you relic of old. So what we're doing here is we're referencing the fact that they've got weapons. But don't be too literal. We don't go put away. Your knife is this doesn't work. So melt down your sword and shield you relic of old. So it's saying that you're part of an old way of doing things. You are violent. Ex knight in shining armor were not that way anymore. And then the final line a new conscription is here. You've been called. So this is a reference to wars, obviously on men historically being called up, particularly in Waterworld, wanted to to fight for their country on. So what is saying here is a new conscription has been called by our guys people that we're gonna be nonviolent majority and we're gonna carry on the world in that way. So it melt down your sword and shield. The relic of old and new conscription is here. You've been called now old on called Don't really rhyme. But when I sing it in a vaguely American sounding voice for that specific line. It does work so that comes back to the accents thing. If I say as not down your sword and shield you rarely call of old A new conscription is here. You've been called doesn't work So this is what it is Turning, going Keep going away and keep going away You're not down salt and shoot You ready? Go vote new inscriptions here you've been And then we got to Grigoris So I think we have a song Then it got pretty chorus and then chorus, then bridge Then I'll break down on then Well done. 27. Act 3 - A Lyric From Scratch - Final Checks: So what we're doing here is we need to re back through what we've got before we finish up to see if the story makes sense. Basically, this is what we've got so far. Misguided slogans around so much misconduct in the crowd. A scholar River now runs through my town Feel as if we're losing out ground. That's cool. So tired of taking it from the man is tired. It's time that we took a stand. All my neighbors locked, loaded and ran, but I won't sit and join in their band. OK, so that's our guy. See singing the first bit. Then we've got pre course. It's a big game. We both on the same times to then it's a big game We both need to play. So that's our poppy build up to the course that it's the chorus sign. But you say Fight, fight, fight, Fight for your freedom. Tonight's tonight. We're gonna beat him Now I've noticed it is a line. It doesn't really make sense. I can't move for blood on the streets now. This is meant to be the violent guy speaking, So he probably wouldn't say I can't move for blood on the streets. So we need to change that. Take action tonight on the streets. Now I'm doing because I've already set the precedent. I'm doing this style. I'm doing it again here. So we've got tonight's the night We're gonna be them and then go take action. Take it tonight So let's see how this sounds. 5554 You freedom two nights and not we gonna beat, um take caps and take its and out on the streets Yeah, that doesn't work I'm not gonna be them Vacation take you down the street down the street about two knots Not gonna be the take action Take it down on the streets Okay, I think that works seven Carry on And that is But I say fight, fight, Fight for your freedom Spread Love is how we gonna beat him Come now is the only way You will see the only way you'll see c e Come with me, etcetera First to keep going away and will burn Cut off that liberty you yearn Melt down your sword and shield Relic of old A new conscription is here. You've been called Then we got the bridge I know comes from the heart, but it's tearing me apart. I think it's one of the week IRS So it's OK, but I'm gonna keep it cause I like the way it goes into the breakdown. Terror me, uh, I say for your feet. Okay, so let's play it through. 28. Act 3 - A Lyric From Scratch - THE SONG!!!: So this is how song sounds. Now we've got a full lyric. You've seen it go from absolutely nothing to me finding an article online today on I'm finishing it Now, today, a couple of hours later of writing lyrics and writing some music with it. I hope some of the tips along the way have helped on. You can see how the other lessons we've had it on the way to get here have informed some of the decisions that we've been making while writing it. It's not the best song that anyone's ever written, but it's not the worst on Ivor on as we've discussed, you should just keep writing and put this into the stack. And even if you had another song and you didn't realize this one so much, you could take elements of this that say I like the course on this. I think, of course, and this is the best bit public. I could take that, repurpose it into another song. So here we go. Oh, what? We're gonna name it, um, fight for your freedom. I'd probably just call it fight. I guess Fight for your freedom is a little bit. I don't like that. This song is so preachy after working on this, that is a bit kind of preacher. It's not really my style, that kind of political vibe, But I guess you talk to quit. Five Freedom. Yeah. So anyone who got this is this is about freedom, Miss Got it. Slogans around so much misconduct in the crowd Scholar River now consume Not sound feelers for losing no crown so side of taking it from the man someone will stand. Hello. My name is locked, loaded and ready, but I won't sit by joining their bed. It's a big game with both. Want the same. It's a big game with both one on the same. It's a big game with needs to pay, say 555 For your freedom two nights and not gonna take action. Take it down on the streets But I say 5554 You spread it on How we got up. Come now. It's the only way. All see the only way. See? Going your way. Good liberty, You your No Damn! Use our shoes. You read a car? Old new conscription is here. You've been cold. It's a big game about What the same. It's a big game about one of the same. It's a big game. Okay, but wait, take action to get out on the streets Say how come down The only way I know Consummate staring me I say full freedom spread loves how we're gonna beat him Come knows the only way you will see love from now The only way you'll see for your freedom Two nights and not waking up 10 bucks to take down those trees Baby, I say 555 Freedom way That's the only way. See, CEO, uh, see so that we got five Your freedom. A lyric written totally from scratch on Is it possible song? 29. Extra Tips - Where To Find Inspiration In A Writers Rut : So you got writer's block. Everybody gets it in whatever profession, Whether they are a novel writer, a screenwriter or a lyricist on, it's just something you're gonna have to deal with. So here's a few examples of things you can do to get out and about on Find things to write about when you're stuck. Interrupt. Listening to music is a really great way to inspire some writing and get yourself out of that rut because I don't about you. But certainly I want to emulate those favorite artists of mine. And another great thing to do is listen to new artists. See what's in the charts, see what's coming out because they might have a new perspective that you connect with. For example, recently, Billy I'll ish obviously came out which everybody has now heard off. She's massive but her kind of style of music, that very quiet vocal with the soft beats here and there and all that jazz. You know, I was watching an interview recently, and they were talking about how her style wouldn't have been a thing 50 years ago or even 10 years ago, because it's home recording that's allowed her to do that her whole album was recorded by herself on her brother in who produced it as well in their house in California somewhere. And it's because of this home recording element, that one they could afford to do it, but to she could perform it how she wanted with homemade studio recording surroundings. And that's why she got so close to the mic to create that now well known Billy Eyeless sound so see didn't exist a few years ago. But now suddenly she's everywhere. So if you get out and listen to music upcoming trends, you might find a new artist that you connect to who might be doing something similar to you on just because there's another artist doing something similar to your lyrics or music, whatever. That's probably a good thing. As honest, it's not exactly the same. That means that it's popular. You know Ed Sheeran on Shawn Mendez. All of those people, they sound kind of similar as famously described in certain magazines and reviews, But there are wildly popular look at people upcoming now, Dermot Kennedy, all these artists they will share certain elements of their music, but thank still popular. So if you find someone out there in the chart or wherever online on a block that you connect with. Then listen to that and hopefully that will give you some inspiration for your songwriting . Secondly, and personally, my favorite way off getting yourself out of a songwriting rut is going to live music, particularly festivals. I don't know what festival was exists in the country you're watching this from, but here in the UK, we have Mastery Festival, which is the greatest festival on Earth on. Whenever I go there, I am instantly hit by lightning bolt off, wanting to write great lyrics on great songs and perform alive because to see to stand in that crowd really on feel what it's like to watch your favorite artists up there performing and seeing what can happen with that little piece of art. I know we mentioned before the three minutes 30 can change your life, but wow, to see what can happen with that little thing that got created in a bedroom somewhere in the world. And now it's being played to thousands and thousands of people live. It's amazing to see Andi. I think anybody who's a lyricist or some rights or performer. I don't know how they could go to live music and not have that kind of I need to do that. You get home and write more. But it's not just quote unquote normal people that will be inspired by going to live music like that. It can get anybody out for a run. For example. John Mayer. I know I mentioned a lot. He's one, my favorite artists. He actually went to go and see Coldplay many years ago. I was so inspired from seeing their performance that he went straight home and wrote bigger than my body, which was actually quite a big hit from one of his early albums. So it could be anybody that live music can inspire thirdly, and harking back to something we talked about earlier in this course, going up on about for a walk can be really helpful for just seeing the world on getting herself out of writer's block moment. The reason why I say that's particularly is because, as you mentioned earlier, getting out for a walk put you out in the world on suddenly you're observing what's going on around you. You might meet somebody you know and here an interesting story. Or over here, somebody else in the park. Whatever is great just to be out and about on bond, experiencing what's around you in your local area on that conspire you as well to get you out of Europe. Partly the reason why I say getting out and about is important because the right urine might not just be based on your lyrics or the fact that you can't write songs about time. It might just be that you are a bit down about whatever. So getting out on experiencing life in any form could be really great to inspire you from what you see around you, I guess what may be saying is experiencing life informs your lyric writing. So get out amongst it on. Don't stay seeing a home going, Oh God, I can't write any lyrics. Isn't life awful? Get out amongst life and go for a walk. Go and see are in any form, whether that is like music or a gallery. See your friends anything. You never know who you might bump into on what stories you might hear, which will then potentially inspire your next brilliant lyric. That said, There are certain artists in the world who write incredibly depressing lyrics from being based, holed up in their room, crying to themselves, feeling awful, so each to their own, I guess. 30. Extra Tips - You Will Be Your Harshest Critic: here. We're going to dress one of the hardest things you will face in your lyric, writing on any creative faces in their work, which is the inner critic inside your head. It's extremely difficult to deal with. Everybody has it. So what do you do about it? You don't always come out with amazing songs. You don't always come out with amazing lyrics. It's a difficult process. So here's a few steps you can take to help yourself with it. The first piece of advice is to finish your songs. Finish those lyrics, make sure they're all done before you write it off as a load of rubbish that you're never gonna use. I've had songs that start off quite badly on. Then you hit the pre chorus and you write a great chorus after Andi. Suddenly you're on to something, and then all you have to do is go back and change that terrible verse you wrote on the back of a note pad in the middle of nowhere. Somewhere on suddenly you're on to a decent song, so you should always finish what you start because I know it's difficult. But having a loaded voice knows on your phone. But just say whatever dancehall idea number 17 on just 10 seconds off intro isn't helpful to anybody. Even if you've got a whole bad song, you can at least analyze it, see what's good about it, what's bad about it and where you can build on that. So that's one step to silencing that critic, because when you finish the whole song, there's always something in that lurk that's gonna be good. It's very unlikely that you write an entire song, which is terrible, so there's always something good to pick from it. Number two is following what life coaches call the. Would you say that to a child mantra, which is essentially the things that you're saying to yourself while you're reading back your lyrics in front of you? Would you say that to a four year old, six year old version of yourself? It's very unlikely that you would criticizing their work, dampening their hopes and dreams. You just wouldn't do it. So you need to be that six year old version of yourself, Andi silence the critic inside your head by saying, Would I say that to myself as a four year old? Probably know you don't want to hold back your dreams of writing great lyrics and great songs by stupid things in your head which ultimately gonna mean nothing. Because by the time you've written 100 songs, you're definitely gonna have some brilliant ones in there. The third and arguably most important tip is acknowledged that you will write some bad lyrics. Everybody does is called the dirty water principle. If you turn on a tap in the initial phase, it will be dirty black water that comes out That is your songs. That is your lyrics, I'm afraid, coming out terrible lyrics all over the shop and slowly over time that water will get cleaner and cleaner and clearer and clearer On only then will the brilliant song start to flow. It's like a muscle. If you write a lot, you will write better. And also just by the fact of mass The more you right, the more likely is that you're gonna write some good lyrics. Fourth tip is go back and listen to some of the favorite stuff you've done. I know this might be seen is slightly egotistical by some of you, but if you're in a bit of a rock and you've got a critic in your head telling you that the song you're writing the moment is rubbish. Just go and listen to something you've done before, which you think is really great. I know for myself I've written songs. I really like songs that I don't. If I'm stuck with the one I'm currently writing, I might go back on. Listen to a song that I've played to hundreds of people and they loved it. And you go, No, actually, I have Mariah writing lyrics. Andi, I should carry on with this because maybe it will end up like that one. I've just been listening to which people actually light and failing all of that. If you really can't silence the critics inside your head, then please go on YouTube and type in Ed Sheeran Young music videos if you look back. Ed Sheeran was uploading and making music from about 10 11 years old on his early work, as acknowledged by himself in interviews, is terrible like really bad. He can't play guitar, he can't sing. Nothing looking now, So if you ever feel really bad going you to do that 31. Extra Tips - Backing Lyrics: backing vocals or backing lyrics. I guess in this instance, this is a very specific tip, which I am leaving here anyway, just in case you need it. It's only for when you're getting to the end off making off your song, the lyrics written, the music's been added and you're recording it, and it's time to add production on backing vocals, etcetera. Now, as a songwriter, you will potentially be asked to add the backing lyrics to it, which I've had to do in the past. But the key is absolute minimalism wherever you can. I've heard quite a few songs where they had a great lyric or a great song ready to go. And then they go into the studio on start putting down backing vocals on The lyricist Is there adding more to the song than they ever had in the beginning. Now it's great to add a tiny little bit of extra storytelling with the backing vocal, but you really don't wanna be adding lots more story toe what you're already telling their totally there to supplement your song most of the time backing vocals You here, I just you know, a copy off what the singer is actually singing Andi. At their best. Backing vocals are songs like Aretha Franklin's Natural Woman or Midnight Train to Georgia , which does include a little more storytelling but is all within the vein off the words just spoken by the singer. I've had to deal with certain songs that people have sent through in the past, whereby they'll seeing a line, and then they've got totally different lines telling a different story or extra part of story underneath. And it just doesn't work unless you're extremely stream skilled and they perfectly harmonize on the beat of the lyrics. Match the beat of the one above it, and there's gaps in between where you can hear the other one and understand all of it at once. I really would refrain from doing that and just be nice and simple with your backing vocals on lyrics that you write for that because sometimes if you do get to the recording process , you might have to write the backing lyrics for the singers 32. Extra Tips - Accents: accents everybody has them on. They do affect the way that words sound. So as a little piece of advice. When you are writing lyrics, you should remember in the back of your head the accent of the person who will be singing it, or if it's yourself the way that you yourself sound or sing. I know that people don't necessarily sing in their own accent. If you listen to somebody like the cooks, which are British Band, they put on Northern accents to sound like they're from a different part of country. They don't really sound like that in conversation, but the adds a cool sound to the way they sing on Bond. They did it very successfully. It's now become a bit of a trend that people do quite a lot, and it's slightly annoying that you should be aware of the way you sound. I'm going to show you an example now, with one of my songs on. Describe how two different accents affect the words in the lyric on thus affect the sound of the song. It's something that you should be aware of when you're writing lyrics in the back of your head, but it's not extremely important. And to be honest, on the whole, most people do put on a slight American accent when they're seeing So this is some of mine called adult Vita. It's a happy little pop chin beats Come and see me walk along Show me your house, Potsie and I want to go e I don't want to go home Walk around town Spinning into the B Got so easy that sing in the street When you're my go You're my girl Say it must be in the dock TV's are Come along, my son Your easa low It must be the dot se ve come along and it carries on So let's take the start This song The lyric Goes on the beach Come and see me Walk along Showed me your house by the sea And I don't want to go I don't want to go home now If I sang that in my own very English accent it was like this on the beach Come and see me Walk along Show me a house by the sea and I don't want to go I don't want to go home. Doesn't sound great, does it? Now Unfortunately, with my English accent, certain words there don't sound amazing to the ear, particularly the English inflection on Go, Let's see what it sounds like if you put in various twangs of a vaguely American accident on the beats. Come see me walk along, show me a hot spot Asi and I wanna go e I don't want to go. Suddenly it flows a lot smoother, and that is in part due to the way the American accent is constructed. Certain words do sound better. On the whole, it's just a fact of life on. That is why most people on the whole do somewhat in personally Americans. It's not a great idea to do this, but when you're writing lyrics, do be aware of the way certain words sound on how that will affect the listener. Equally, you can place your accent on, really push it on, create its own whole popular genre on the back of it. For example, at the moment we're going through a huge phase off popularity and Latin American music on kind of reggae tone style. If you listen to Esposito on all that daddy Yankee type music, they really push there Spanish they speak in Spanish on the record, and they often mix it with English language, but with a heavy Spanish or South American accent, which adds their own flavor to it and create something new and interesting, which has obviously become massively popular. 33. Extra Tips - Helpful Websites: he is just a little thing on a few websites that can help you on your lyric writing journey . First of all is a website called Ultimate Guitar. For those of you out there that are playing guitar as well as writing, it's a brilliant website that I'm sure lots of you have heard off if you aren't total beginners. But I have to mention it anyway because it's so good it provides tabs on cords for all of your popular songs in the charts on the lyrics are there as well, and this is what's crucial. You can view how the cords interact with the lyrics there on the website on. That could be really impactful for your lyric writing because let's say you love the new Maroon five song that's in a chart or choose a Beatle song for many years ago. You can go on ultimate guitar and see how the lyrics interact with the cords on how one informs the other. And it's a great way to learn about song writing on Help your own songwriting along the way . Secondly, on some may say, this is cheating, but I do regularly use a website called Ryan's own rhyme zone is a great website. I've found where you can basically type in. Any word on it will give you every rhyme possible for it. So let's say you put in the word son. It will say Run, gun, whatever. But what's particularly great about this website is that it also gives you all the semi rhymes and kindness words that sound like it but aren't necessarily arrived, that you can squeeze into lyrics. And it's really helpful. I've used a lot over the years in songs that have been played all around the world. Andi. I don't think there's anything wrong with it myself. It's just a little bit of help along the way. Another thesaurus. It's just choosing different words for the same emotion I was choosing, I guess, thirdly, and finally, and I know this may sound silly, but YouTube is brilliant for learning about various things here and there in particular, and the reason I bring this up we all know YouTube is you should look at lyric videos. It's become a trend for artists to release lyric videos for their songs before their release, an official music video, and it's a great way to see nicely stylized on professional content rather than just a fan made thing off lyrics coming up as the song goes along. And it's a great way to study how they fit to the beat, how the lyrics inform each other on the rhyme schemes that go throughout, so there's just a few little extra things that you can go and check out. 34. Conclusion And Sign Off!: Congratulations. You've just completed pro lyric writing on No nonsense guide to songwriting success. The first thing to do is give yourself a big pat on the back and thank you very much for coming through the course with May I really hope that you've learned lots of important techniques on real life examples that you can apply to your own lyric writing throughout the course. I hope that my promise of our no nonsense guide has been fulfilled through the use of our real examples on real lyrics that you've seen on the page both from May and songs that I've written on chart topping worldwide hits that we've also discussed. I didn't want to inflate you with silly notions like Believe in yourself, Andi. You'll do it or believe in yourself. Andi. You'll come up with amazing lyrics, which I have seen elsewhere because I know from these courses you want riel usable structure and things that you can actually use in your lyric writing, particularly for a beginner through the course. We've taken you from the absolute basics of note writing and songwriting, with my definitions off perk writing lyric, writing on the magical Third Way with the best of both. We've talked about where to find inspiration on real ways. You can write about everyday life or your own experiences, things you hear from the public. We then taking it into a more technical analysis of blue writing with rhyme schemes and real example of great hits that both rhyme or they don't rhyme. And then finally, we've taken all of these different lessons on built on each other throughout the course to demonstrate how you can write a song from scratch in just a few hours on use the techniques that we've learned on the way. If you have any questions about the course or your own lyric writing or some writing, please feel free to email me. I love to hear from any of my students on. It's my greatest pleasure to reply to all of you from all around the world. It's a great feeling if you want to take the next step in me helping you in your songwriting. I, of course, do provide teaching online on Skype, or I can help rewrite your songs with you or write song from scratch, and we can analyze it. So if that's something you really interested in. Please let me know about that as well. I'd love to help out. Finally, I'd like to say another Thank you very much for going for the court of me. I've actually got to go now and write a song for somebody's first dance at their wedding. So I love you. Leave you But thank you again for going through pro lyric writing and no nonsense guide to songwriting Success. I'll see you another time. Thank you.